January, 2008

Survive or Thrive in Today’s Marketplace
By Tim Trotter

With all of the talk in the news about the current and future state of our nation’s deteriorating economy and the global implications, any business or organizational leader is going to be nervous. The unknown can be scary, and can cause many sleepless nights. What’s more, those feelings of unease can seep into your relationships with your employees, customers and business partners. The challenge then becomes, what can you do about it?

A common reaction is to fall into survival mode – that state of being driven by fear and the reality that something must be done to stay afloat. Many companies tighten their belts, hunker down and see how things fall out. They reevaluate cost structures and find ways to cut unnecessary expenses. In some cases following lagging sales, they compromise or lower their prices for products and services. You end up with mixed results that most likely will affect your long-term viability.

I would suggest a better direction is to “strive to thrive.” While this may just sound like a play on words, it is business philosophy at VerseOne.

The motivating factor of this philosophy is that you must be at the top of your game in any business economy or under any competitive conditions. The primary difference from survival mode is in the offensive approach. Below are some of the considerations for moving forward with strive to thrive:

1. Plan. Lead with a formal strategic game plan that everyone understands and supports. The plan should be a living process within your organization that will help accomplish your organization’s vision, goals and strategies.
2. Efficiency. Within your plan, you must address ways to become more efficient in the way you develop and deliver your products and services. Efficiency is not just lowering costs, but being smarter. The most efficient businesses hold a huge advantage in all economic scenarios.
3. Value. Understand your marketplace and relationship within it. What makes you unique? How will your products and services be marketable in all economies? Do your products fulfill your customer’s current and future needs? How do you add value to your customers?
4. Act. Many companies may have the information above, but not pull the trigger. You can talk yourself out of the obvious because it may encompass change. To compete in today’s marketplace, change occurs daily. Your ability to act on the facts will define your ultimate success.

While it may seem easy for someone like me to advocate the need to be pro-active, you won’t see strive to thrive on our Web site. Strive to thrive is in our actions. VerseOne practices what we preach.

Within the next two months, we will complete a comprehensive plan that will address ways to enhance our efficiencies through a lean process. The value proposition is through our “Lead with Innovation” offering. We have the commitment from our entire team to act on this opportunity.

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