What Should Good Businesses Do in a Down Market?

I was reading an article this morning about real estate agents and what they are doing to survive the real estate downturn in the US. This post isn’t going to be a post about real estate marketing. What it is going to be about is staying the course and letting the market flush out your weaker competitors.

The housing crisis and credit crunch are the best things that could have happened to the full time real estate professional. Why? Because all of the part-timers and weaker players are going to be jettisoned right out of the system. All you need to do is continue to get up every day and move your business forward and the current economy will do the work for you.

But you have to be aggressive right now. Right this very second, someone is choosing not to grow their business, not to expand into another market, or maybe to throw in the towel entirely, are you going to be the one that captures that market share?

Down markets are fantastic for this type of “re-birth” and should happen every ten to twelve years if for no other reason than to bust up the organizations that got fat and lazy. To teach those who thought every move they made was like spinning straw into gold that just as easily, they can be turned back into paupers.

Why? Because the market dictates who wins and who loses. In other words, your customers decide if you stay open or not. For those businesses that opted to ignore the customer when times were good, they are feeling the most pain now that the market is tanking. Can you name any companies right now that are suffering the fate of the disgruntled customer? How about the airlines? How about telecoms? How about the restaurant industry?

But there is an upside!

These market conditions are exactly when you attack and expand. You steal market share away from competitors because they don’t have the resources or wherewithal to defend their positions…and it’s easier. So spot areas of weakness, pounce, and grow your business. Stop making excuses and get out there and seize the day because someone is, and you better hope they aren’t coming after you!