Blog Roll

The 26th Story
800-CEO-Read
Ageless Marketing
andHow To Reach Women
Katya Andresen
Tom Asacker
Asiabizblog
Jordan Ayan
Martha Barletta
Dave Barry
Ed Batista
Becker-Posner
The Big Picture
The Bing Blog
Blog Critics
Blogging Innovation
John Bogle
BoingBoing
Boomer411
Brand Autopsy
Chris Brogan
BusinessPundit
BW Brand New Day
BW Management IQ
BW The Tech Beat
Cali and Jody
Ben Casnocha
Change This
Church of the Customer
Clear Path International
Consultant Launch Pad
Conversation Agent
Cooking for Engineers
Copy Blogger
Core77
Coudal Partners
Mark Cuban
Aubrey Daniels
Design Gazette, jkr.co.uk
design*sponge
Jory Des Jardins
Betsy Devine
Don the Idea Guy
Dooce
Down the Avenue
Daniel W. Drezner
Esther Dyson
eHub
Frank Eliason
Judith Ellis
English Cut
Enterprise Media
Evhead
Steve Farber
Fast Company
Fast Lane
Brad Feld
The Fischbowl
Richard Florida
Ze Frank
Freakonomics
Free Business Tips
Gil Friend
gapingvoid
Dan Gillmor
Global Neighborhoods
Seth Godin
Good Experience
Gothamist
Great Leadership
Alan Gregerman
The Growth Guy
Erik Hansen
Health Affairs
Health Beat
The Health Care Blog
Dick Heller
Hyperthinker
IDEO Eyes Open
iinnovate
Influx Insights
Innovate on Purpose
In Pursuit of Elegance
Instapundit
Intelligent Investor
The Intuitive Life
Isenblog
Joi Ito
Rich Karlgaard/Forbes
Josh Kaufman
Guy Kawasaki
Leading Blog
Learned on Women
Jonah Lehrer
Martin Lindstrom
Chris Locke
The Long Tail
Made to Stick
John Maeda
Management by Baseball
MarketingProfs:DailyFix
Marketing to Boomer Women
Mavericks at Work
The Messaging Times
Metacool
Nick Morgan
Name Wire
Mike Neiss
Netwoman
No Bullet Points
The Nudge Blog
Nuts about Southwest
John O'Leary
Online MBA
Peter Osborne
Persistence Unlimited
Personal Branding
Dan Pink
Pink Slip
Play the Game of Life
Pollster
John Porcaro
Portfolio Careers
Virginia Postrel
Power Line
Presentation Zen
PSFK
Pyromarketing
Mitch Ratcliffe
Fred Reichheld
ResearchBuzz
Retailer Blog
Jennifer Rice
Dan Roam
Kevin Roberts
Scott Rosenberg
Rules of Thumb
The Sales Blog
Samizdata
Ian Sanders
Tim Sanders
Todd Sattersten
Mary Schmidt
Robert Scoble
Scripting News
Doc Searls
Andy Sernovitz
Rajesh Setty
Stephen Shapiro
Signal vs. Noise
Slashdot
Simplicity
Smart Mobs
Sorted Books
Springwise
Halley Suitt
Andrew Sullivan
Sustainable Work
Bob Sutton
The Talent Code
Bill Taylor
TechCrunch
The Technium
Third Age
Trend Hunter
Trend Watching
Trump University
Penelope Trunk
Trusted Advisor
Twist Image
Web Worker Daily
David Weinberger
What's Next
Susan Willett Bird
The Wisdom of Improv
WonderBranding
Wooster Collective
Steve Yastrow
Your White Room

dispatches from the new world of work

2009 Recalibration: Part 1

Your business is bursting with profits

Ask yourself this question: Where is the latent profit in our business?

No business, in the history of the world, has created all of the profit it could possibly produce—including yours. There is always money left on the table.

That is especially true in tough times like this. Our world has changed, profoundly and quickly, and we have yet to adjust to our new reality. Many of us are so shell-shocked at what's been taken from us that we have yet to acknowledge what is left for us to take.

Your business is filled with unrealized opportunities. It is bursting with latent profit, just waiting to be unleashed. The real question is whether you will identify those opportunities and grab them. I am 100% convinced that the state of your business on January 1, 2010, has less to do with the Dow Jones Average, the unemployment rate, or the price of gas than it does with how YOU act in the meantime. (And it is in your best interest to believe this, also.)

As a first step, you want to identify the best sources of latent profit for you in this economic climate. To do this, start out by dreaming. Get in a quiet, undistracted place, and imagine it is one year from today. As you dream, imagine that 2009 was the best, most profitable year you have ever had. (Yes, this is a good dream.) Open your mind, and imagine what happened in your business to make 2009 so successful. If you open your mind, and let yourself think positively, you'll be surprised at the ideas that flow to the surface.

I did this exercise with a client a few weeks ago. Despite the economic situation, the CEO sensed that significant opportunity was lurking below the surface. I asked the CEO and his key senior leaders to imagine the company had an incredible 2009 and 2010, and to describe the company to me on January 1, 2011. Although the company produced $15 million in revenue in 2008, it didn’t take this team long to identify a very credible, achievable $30 million business in two years.

Where did we find this opportunity?

• The first place the business's leaders identified was in their existing customer relationships, where a very large percentage of customers were only buying a fraction of what was possible. The executives admitted that they hadn’t spent nearly enough time developing these existing customer relationships.
• They recognized a large number of retail outlets that could carry their products, but which they had not pursued.
• They had recently experimented with some new product combinations, presented as comprehensive solutions, which were showing initial success with a small number of customers. They didn’t have a sales plan to take these ideas to other customers, but realized that there was great potential if they did so.
• They had recently made a big sale to an entirely new kind of customer, that they had never served before. This first sale now gave them credibility and a track record with other companies in that category.

Was it hard for the company to identify these opportunities? No. Had they articulated them clearly before our conversation. No. This idea of "bringing the future forward," by imagining that it is now one year from today, opens your mind to seeing the possibilities in your business. Like my client, your company is likely sitting on a mountain of opportunity, despite the economic situation.

All of us are sitting on mountains of opportunity. But this result really isn't all that surprising. You have left many opportunities unrealized for years. It's only natural; after all, we can't chase everything that it's possible to chase. Life in business is all about making choices about what we do, and what we don't do. Many of the things you chose not to do in the past may be ripe to be done in the present.

As I've been going through this simple exercise with my clients, and with my own business, it's been invigorating to see the ideas that we bring to the surface. I trust you will have the same experience and will find this to be a positive step toward your success during this economic meltdown.

[This is the first in a six-part series by Steve Yastrow, which parallels six ideas he presented in his 2009 Readiness Teleseminar, in which he addresses Six Readiness Questions to help you thrive in 2009. If you fast-forward to 11 minutes into the one-hour seminar, you can hear more about the subject of this blog post.—CM]

Steve Yastrow posted this on 02/20/09.

Comments

Wonderful Steve - finally a fellow "profit" oriented free enterprise specialist - with some futuring into 2011 - creative!

Posted by C Love at February 20, 2009 5:57 PM

Steve, those are exciting initiatives for your client. Is your client hiring more staff, or eliminating old activities to free up existing staff?

Posted by Mike L. at February 20, 2009 6:23 PM

Steve: Great and timely gift for me right now. Many thanks. Good to be reminded of right to left thinking.

Posted by David Porter at February 21, 2009 9:44 AM

These are great ways to create more revenue in your business. When you are customer focused it really seems to make a positive impact on business as we can see in this article.

Posted by marathonrunner at February 21, 2009 11:23 AM

Steve - Thanks for reminding me that it is opportunity, not damage control, that will move things forward. With that I'm forwarding this link to several others who could also benefit.

Posted by Fred H Schlegel at February 23, 2009 9:06 AM

Thanks Steve..good, sound stuff

Posted by Mike Neiss at February 23, 2009 6:25 PM