Today is the 200th anniversary of another fine Brit, Charles Darwin. This is the gent who put forward the theory of evolution which still causes such a huge amount of controversy today (in the United States where so many local governments have been unable to keep government and religion separated effectively).
His idea is that (and to paraphrase, a whole lot) species that develop favorable traits will become more common, those that don't, wont, and will subsequently die off and disappear. Natural Selection.
If you want to see his theory alive and well and in action at a hugely accelerated rate, all you have to do is take a look at the world of technology or business. For example, does anyone have a "ZipDrive" any more? or has anyone had a delivery from Webvan recently?
How should your business evolve? Given the current economic climate it's probably an interesting (if not critical) discussion for everyone who is involved in running or managing a business today to have RIGHT NOW!
- Does the current macro picture provide you with opportunity to help another business survive the downturn?
- Can they use your products or services to become more efficient and cost effective?
- Does your product have a fast, tangible ROI for them?
- Are your existing customers talking about you helped them?
- Do you have that "extra leg" over your competition?
If the answer to all of these (and many other similar questions) is yes, then you have a great chance of not only surviving the downturn, but assisting others in their survival also. If your answers are not so good, then the big question becomes; What can you do RIGHT NOW to become indispensable and key to your customers survival?
Figure out how to do that and if you can keep providing this kind of solution or service, you will end up among the fittest, and ultimately stronger for it. Your colleagues in competition who do not match up will suffer and end up being abandoned to the wolves or eaten by the herd. Horrible I know, but accept it and grow that extra arm.
