Business Ecosystems

[businessecosystems]

Making It Happen

Regardless of what stage you're at in your career, you need to be mindful of opportunities. Sometimes, in businesses, we may not need to pivot, but doing so may put us ahead of the curve. Establishing the data to support these decisions is important, but that's another matter. What this is about, is establishing the frame of mind to be flexible. Every brand and company has an ethos that they abide by. However, recognize whether or not your no longer abiding by ethos, and rather, too much persistence. If the Leatherman multitool didn't find flexible solutions and just, "stuck to the set approach," of trying to get distributed through major knife manufacturers, then they most likely would have never found major commercial success. But, they adapted, found new solutions, and they overcame, because they found the opportunities in disguise.

With a flexible mindset, they established dominance, something we could all learn from. Recognize when to be flexible, and when to pivot into a new direction. Opportunities are everywhere, you just need a limber mind to see them all.

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Managing Inter-team Conflict

No matter the measures taken, there will always be conflict between parts of a team. How we handle this conflict is crucial to our ethos and image as a business.

Almost always, the conflict is disagreement on how something gets done. There are many great schematics that are used to diffuse this conflict, but the best tool I've encountered was one used by my father.

When I was a boy, me and my brothers would often play all sorts of videogames together. When conflict arose about how a game "Should" be played, he had to step in to stop our fighting. He would ask for each of our approaches, ask us what was different about them from each other, and what the all share in common. He advocated we use the method that

By doing this, we could find common ground, and understand a little more about how we each saw the game being played, and get moving on forward in the game again.

There are additional constraints in the real world, but the message stays true. By finding common ground between disputing team members, you can make a new, cooperative, approach to how to complete a task, and keep moving forward.

[businessecosystems]

Redefining Crisis

Crisis almost always means failure. More specifically, it's a high volatility failure. Like I've pointed out before, failure is growth. So, using some basic practical logic, crisis is A LOT of growth, just in disguise.

You have to be especially crafty in your response to a crisis in order to make it an immediate opportunity. However, if you can do it, the pay offs will be huge.

Various industries have seen turmoil and recessions over their years, but the domineering companies standout as having been able to surpass these moments of decay and ruin, by being adaptable. They do this by differing their plan of action, and making alterations to what the ostrich response of the industry may be.

Their reward wasn't just a pat on the back, it was being one of a very small number of firms to exist after crisis. They're not exactly a phoenix, in that the business crumbled and was reborn, but they're closer to octopi; able to reshape and recolor themselves however they need to to best adapt to the environment.

In doing so, once the cycle recovers, they reap the boons of an increase in customers like never before, as well as being a notable and even exemplary case of how to survive an industry collapse.

Remember, sticking to your guns is valuable, but in times where the world is going belly up and you're Wiley Coyote entering free fall, relax and recuperate. You're only chance at survival as a business is by creatively adapting to the environment.

[businessecosystems]

Establishing Presence

One of the hardest things to do is get a foot in the door.

There are many approaches, but one of the things you have to keep in mind as a business owner, is how your presence exists in the ecosystem of businesses.

Small fish can grow up to become big sharks, but they need food to do that. Your business, when it starts, is almost always going to be a very small fish, in a massive ocean, in need of food to survive and grow.

You need to be on top of whatever opportunities grow your business as fast as you can. Staying on top of things is how you stay on top. Growth comes from expansion into opportunity. If a new market segment opens and is left unserved, if you have the means to expand and fill a niche, go for it.

You have to start out dominating the field your given, don't wait for an opportunity to go, just go. When you do, people recognize your grit and determination, and will reward that through the respect and commendation it generates. Slowly, by being ferocious and tenacious, the door to expansion and opportunity grows, and your reputation as a business generates respect.

Don't worry or panic if you're not growing as fast as you may want, just expand the diet and adjust your appetite.

Great business adapt and overcome. Don't be anything else except a great business

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Steering Through Rough Waters

Often times we find ourselves losing focus of our business journey. The "war fog" of world events seems to get in the way, and block our view and blocks us from seeing where to steer our ship. In moments like these, it's crucial to remember that it is not the end of the world. Don't stress it, put the spyglass down, go back to helm, and steer by instinct.

Captaining your ship, whatever that may be, requires sailing expertise. The only way to gain this knowledge is to start sailing. Everyone encounters rocky tides, monsoons, hurricanes, coral reefs & shallow waters; but keeping the ship going is what makes a captain great. Remember in times where the seas are violent, and the fog is thick, to trust your gut and keep the ship moving forward: your experience will guide you.