BUSINESS
Converting business threat to opportunity
They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Sometimes our businesses face challenges and it is natural to feel anxious over the future of the business. It is important, however, not to be paralysed by that anxiety. Sometimes, a business threat is the push we need to explore opportunities that advance our businesses and create that niche market that differentiates us from the rest of the pack.
A few years ago, when HiTV entered the market and wrestled the European Premiereship League license for broadcast in Nigeria from Multichoice, their calculation might have been that with the EPL license, they would become the market leader for cable television in Nigeria and send Multichoice whimpering out of Nigeria. Sadly, their calculation fell short. For one, for only the rights to broadcast in Nigeria, HiTV offered, in the bidding process, way more than Multichoice was paying for rights to broadcast in all of Africa. Where Multichoice could spread their outlay across their subscribers in about 50 countries, HiTV did not have that cushion. Secondly, HiTV’s reliance on one seasonal product as their anchor was flawed, and showed that they did not fully understand the market that they were entering.
Multichoice began the waiting game – waiting for HiTV to tire itself out – but they didn’t sit still. Multichoice got more creative with its programming and started to offer a wider array of bouquets to suit different budgets. Africa Magic expanded to include the language movie channels, Big Brother 2 came on four years after the first edition, and Multichoice started developing the Nigerian Premiereship League. Multichoice was able to ride out that storm. Unfortunately, HiTV was unable to stay in the market.
The threats to our businesses do not always come in such dramatic fashion. It could be losing the business of a big client, or a decline in sales figures because market tastes have changed, whatever the threat and however it comes we must be prepared to squeeze every drop of juice out of those lemons to make lemonade.
To do that, you must:
Know your market – who is your target, what do they want, how do they behave?
Keep up with trends – is there a new product, technology, process, etc in your field? Are there new regulations that will affect your business?
Know what your competition is offering.
Defeat fear – going into new terrain is not a tea party but, as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Weigh your options and try to manage your risk.
Use your strengths but do not be afraid to ask for help.
