The Necessity of Reinventing
By Terry Brock
“You can have a new beginning anytime you want one.” Joachim dePosada
Life is interesting. It is constantly changing and morphing from one place to another. No matter how successful you’ve been, you have to change and adapt with new circumstances and new ways of doing things. Even if you failed – it is time to start again and not make the same mistakes twice.
This is an attitude that is common in our American experience. As I’ve traveled to other countries I often hear from friends over a few drinks (where you learn what is really going on) that if someone fails in business, they often are finished---sometimes forever. The American experience is different. We usually like to see someone who has had some setbacks in the past. That means they have learned and probably won’t make the same mistakes again. Experience comes from the white-hot crucible of real-world challenges and difficulties.
This resilient attitude is what can make all the difference with your success or failure. It doesn’t matter who your ancestors are – it is up to you. You can change if you put your mind to it and make the right decisions this time.
Today, more than ever, as new opportunities emerge, the solution is to find a hot idea, master the concepts and become an expert in it. Find ways to monetize what the marketplace is asking for.
Earl Nightingale said it well years ago when he said you can become an expert in a field with the right amount of study and learning. He recommended a minimum of one hour every day, five days a week for five years to become an expert. Spend the time, money and effort to read, attend seminars, go to the right classes and you can become an expert in a given field. With the abundance of information on the Internet today, there is no excuse for not acquiring the right skills and knowledge to carry you forward.
But, you have to be willing to pay the price. It won’t always be easy. You will have to pay the cost in terms of time, money and effort.
You have to reinvent your business on a regular basis. Sun Microsystems talks about competing with yourself. Successful companies become their own competition before others do. This way you are aggressively exploring new options that the marketplace will embrace.
Find a competitive product to your most vulnerable products. Start a separate effort of developing new products based on market opportunities. Wouldn’t it be better if the competition to your cash cow came from your company rather than competitors?
You can do this personally and for your company. In fact, successful people and organizations do it regularly. Here are Five steps that can help in the process.
How To Reinvent Yourself Today:
1. Realize that you are not stuck. You can break out of a bad situation. It might take some planning and time. But, this is your life. Make it happen. In business, you have to be brutally honest with yourself. How much longer can you keep doing what you’re doing if the market has shifted and is moving in another direction?
2. Consider what it is you’d like to do. Think of all the possibilities. You don’t even have to know exactly what it is. Start moving in the right direction and the world has a wonderful way of unveiling new opportunities for you.
3. Count the cost. Change is not always easy --- or cheap. It will cost you time, money and effort. On a personal level, this is your life. You don’t have forever and “time is a wasting” as the old saying goes.
4. Laugh (and Learn) When It Doesn’t Work. Sometimes you’ll try a new direction and it won’t work. Hey, no problem! Welcome to my planet! It works that way here. You will have some setbacks. Let those be lessons from which you learn. Pick yourself up again, learn why it didn’t work, and move forward with a renewed vigor, armed with new and better information on market conditions.
5. Keep On Reinventing. It never stops. Business is a series of continually reinventing products and services based on what the market wants. The good news is that it’s changing. If things have been rough and you need a new direction, you have the opportunity to move forward to a new level.
The bad new is that it’s changing. If you have been doing well for a while, you still have to reinvent as the market changes. Reinvention is really not an option for the successful company and the successful person.
Remember, you can have that new beginning for your personal life or your company any time you want. Be willing to pay the price and make it happen.
After all, on this planet, reinvention for successful companies is not an option---it is a necessity.
________________________________________
Terry Brock is a regular columnist for Business Journals and a marketing coach who helps business owners market more effectively leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their busy days using the right rules and tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.
Copyright © 2006, Terry Brock, All Rights Reserved Internationally. No portion may be reprinted or used in any way without prior written permission.
“You can have a new beginning anytime you want one.” Joachim dePosada
Life is interesting. It is constantly changing and morphing from one place to another. No matter how successful you’ve been, you have to change and adapt with new circumstances and new ways of doing things. Even if you failed – it is time to start again and not make the same mistakes twice.
This is an attitude that is common in our American experience. As I’ve traveled to other countries I often hear from friends over a few drinks (where you learn what is really going on) that if someone fails in business, they often are finished---sometimes forever. The American experience is different. We usually like to see someone who has had some setbacks in the past. That means they have learned and probably won’t make the same mistakes again. Experience comes from the white-hot crucible of real-world challenges and difficulties.
This resilient attitude is what can make all the difference with your success or failure. It doesn’t matter who your ancestors are – it is up to you. You can change if you put your mind to it and make the right decisions this time.
Today, more than ever, as new opportunities emerge, the solution is to find a hot idea, master the concepts and become an expert in it. Find ways to monetize what the marketplace is asking for.
Earl Nightingale said it well years ago when he said you can become an expert in a field with the right amount of study and learning. He recommended a minimum of one hour every day, five days a week for five years to become an expert. Spend the time, money and effort to read, attend seminars, go to the right classes and you can become an expert in a given field. With the abundance of information on the Internet today, there is no excuse for not acquiring the right skills and knowledge to carry you forward.
But, you have to be willing to pay the price. It won’t always be easy. You will have to pay the cost in terms of time, money and effort.
You have to reinvent your business on a regular basis. Sun Microsystems talks about competing with yourself. Successful companies become their own competition before others do. This way you are aggressively exploring new options that the marketplace will embrace.
Find a competitive product to your most vulnerable products. Start a separate effort of developing new products based on market opportunities. Wouldn’t it be better if the competition to your cash cow came from your company rather than competitors?
You can do this personally and for your company. In fact, successful people and organizations do it regularly. Here are Five steps that can help in the process.
How To Reinvent Yourself Today:
1. Realize that you are not stuck. You can break out of a bad situation. It might take some planning and time. But, this is your life. Make it happen. In business, you have to be brutally honest with yourself. How much longer can you keep doing what you’re doing if the market has shifted and is moving in another direction?
2. Consider what it is you’d like to do. Think of all the possibilities. You don’t even have to know exactly what it is. Start moving in the right direction and the world has a wonderful way of unveiling new opportunities for you.
3. Count the cost. Change is not always easy --- or cheap. It will cost you time, money and effort. On a personal level, this is your life. You don’t have forever and “time is a wasting” as the old saying goes.
4. Laugh (and Learn) When It Doesn’t Work. Sometimes you’ll try a new direction and it won’t work. Hey, no problem! Welcome to my planet! It works that way here. You will have some setbacks. Let those be lessons from which you learn. Pick yourself up again, learn why it didn’t work, and move forward with a renewed vigor, armed with new and better information on market conditions.
5. Keep On Reinventing. It never stops. Business is a series of continually reinventing products and services based on what the market wants. The good news is that it’s changing. If things have been rough and you need a new direction, you have the opportunity to move forward to a new level.
The bad new is that it’s changing. If you have been doing well for a while, you still have to reinvent as the market changes. Reinvention is really not an option for the successful company and the successful person.
Remember, you can have that new beginning for your personal life or your company any time you want. Be willing to pay the price and make it happen.
After all, on this planet, reinvention for successful companies is not an option---it is a necessity.
________________________________________
Terry Brock is a regular columnist for Business Journals and a marketing coach who helps business owners market more effectively leveraging technology. He shows busy professionals how to squeeze more out of their busy days using the right rules and tools. He can be reached at 407-363-0505, by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.
Copyright © 2006, Terry Brock, All Rights Reserved Internationally. No portion may be reprinted or used in any way without prior written permission.
posted by Terry Brock @ Thursday, September 28, 2006
