Looking Through the Other End of the Lens
Author: Linda J. Popky
Have you ever looked through a pair of binoculars and wondered why the object you’re looking at seemed even farther away than with the naked eye?
Most likely, after just a short period of time you realized that you were holding the binoculars the wrong way and you needed to look through the other end of the lens. Just like magic – things came into focus and the horizon began to look a lot closer and more vivid.
Imagine, though, what would happen if for some reason you were stuck looking through the wrong end of the lens – if you didn’t know what actions to take to bring the world into focus. Your target would seem far, far away and hard to see. You’d be amazed at how small and inaccessible things seemed to be. You might even give up in frustration.
It’s like the way some people are looking at their business in this current economy.
Don’t get me wrong. We are definitely in a tough economic situation, perhaps the worst business climate in almost a hundred years. However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t opportunities available – if you pick the right target and look through the lens correctly.
Here’s where we may get stuck. For a long time, we’ve been in a growth period where we could pick and choose our business targets almost at random and most, if not all, were good choices. Now the climate has changed and it takes skill and discipline as much as luck to be successful.
Not everyone will thrive in this period. But those who have the fortitude to try another tack, to look at the world through a new lens, will come out on top. Best of breed companies don’t sit around waiting for conditions to change – they make change happen themselves. They look for new opportunities in existing markets, or innovative ways to use their products and services, or even brand new untapped markets to tackle.
While their competitors are folding up their tents and huddling together to wait out the storm, market leaders plan how they can build market share, generate awareness, and increase customer loyalty. They know that this too will pass, and when it does they better be prepared to move forward and capture new territories. Which means they need to be mapping out their strategies now, planning effective initiatives, and getting read to execute?
What are you doing to change your business focus? What new opportunities now exist and how should your redirect your gaze to reach them? Are you prepared to take advantage of the changes that are coming with a new presidential administration? Are you leveraging technology and social media as effectively as possible? Do you understand what drives your key customers today and how you can provide the value they need to be successful in this new world?
Take the time to look through the other side of the lens. You may be surprised at what comes into view.
