It’s always hard to check your ego – especially as an entrepreneur. At one time the passion and excitement you had for the product or service your business offers was probably enough to drive creativity and help you gain a measure of success. You may have rode that wave of success and put some money in the bank. But waves subside and often times before the entrepreneur realizes it.
125 stores are being closed by Macy’s over the next 3 years as they shift away from weaker shopping malls and re-focus on smaller stores in strip centres. There was a time when large format stores worked however the economics no longer work today as they have in the past. Macy’s will combine their store closures with other operational changes that will reduce their costs, consolidate their workforce and hopefully help them see traction again. Bringing their teams closer together should produce some better leverage and help focus their efforts on improving the customer experience and ultimately revenue.
What wave of success have you rode that may be coming to and end or may have already ended? What unique strategies or tactics was your business using that are no longer as effective as they use to be? Do you remember how you discovered them? Is there an opportunity to discover some new ones using the same methodology? There is truly nothing new under the sun – everything has been done before and will be done again. What could your business be doing in a new way that caters to the tried and true patterns or behaviours that your customers have?
