Business Tides: Can You Stay Afloat?

(Business Mentor Notes: Ayo Gutierrez-Abanggan is a member of The Queen City Toastmasters Club and International Marketing Group. She is the Regional Manager of the Self-reliance Services and Perpetual Education Fund in Region 3. Together with her husband, they run the EC&C training and consultancy business and a branch of Einstein School for Kids. They also co -authored a motivational book entitled Almost is the Same as Never.

Ayo wrote her debut book, Buy 1 Fake 1 which will be out in selected National Bookstore outlets soon. She loves to write , travel and  play the piano .)

                                                                       Erlwin and Ayo Abanggan

You are a small-business owner. Your sales figures sky rocket for the past six months and you are happy. Your products do not stay long in the shelves.  Your customers- old and new- are flocking your store almost everyday. This is beyond your expectation. How else will you describe your feelings?

You are ecstatic!

Check this out. Things will never, ever stay that way for long… Sooner or later, a competitor is going to shake up your world and do things differently and -yes-maybe a lot better. Before you know it, your customers are flowing to that competitor and then you have to scramble to play ‘ catch up’. In its truest sense, playing catch up is no fun. It flips the coin to your competitor’s advantage; often resulting to exasperation on your part and a reactionary way of doing business; not a proactive strategy you planned. How do you get a rebound to flip the coin again but this time let your competitors play catch up with you?

Change is most omnipresent in the world of business. As an entrepreneur, you must be prepared to change everything from the ground up. One successful Filipino entrepreneur, Rolando Hortaleza said, “A business should be dynamic. It must be flexible and attuned to the changing times. It must not stand still or be passive. It should continually search for progress and improvements. It must regenerate and reinvent itself.”

But what are we talking about here, specifically? Author David Abingdon called this changing- ‘differentiating’, which according to him can be cosmetic or fundamental. An example of a cosmetic differentiation is to change the package on the same old product.

Differentiation can also be more fundamental, such as a change in the product itself. How many times have you seen ‘new and improved’ on a familiar product? One of the most evident examples is the rant and rave of shampoo industry. These companies enhance the chemistry of their products to make them more effective.

Have not you noticed how television commercials are conceptualized these days? Successful commercials that go viral are those that truly touch the emotions of its viewers thru incorporating stories. I recently watched a bubble gum commercial in Facebook that amassed millions of likes just hours after it was first launched. Training consultant and businessman, Carlo Calimon said,” Ang nakakakita sa di nakikita ng iba ang siyang kikita.” (The one who sees something that others don’t see is the one who earns).

Hisita is an alumnus of a business school who understood the need to change and immediately acted Gie on it. She is the owner of Sweet Petals flower shop in Cebu. She recalled that as a start-up entrepreneur, keeping up with other flower shop owners who already had established a wide client base was tough. She felt like catching all the time until she investigated the activities of her competitors. Her next step was a big success. First, she reinvented the way she bundled her flowers. Then, she offered corporate discounts and added delivery services without compromising her profit. Because of these two simple things she was able to increase her sales and sustain customer activity even during off-peak season.

Look at your product or service. What can you do today to differentiate and make your customers take a new look at you?

Can you be the first to offer a terrific new spin on the same old business? If you do, you’ll capture the first wave of an entire trend, and those that ride the first and fastest, enjoy the greatest success! You must strive to differentiate, but realize that the process comes with some risk. Yet, you must take this risk and move forward. It’s much more dangerous to stay static and do nothing.

Yes, you as a small business owner can swim in the sea of competition and remain afloat. Be bold to make the change but just make sure you tell your customers what you are doing. They must be your anchors –at all times.