With a new year comes new opportunities. The challenge in business, as in life, is to recognize opportunities and take the appropriate actions to take advantage of them. This, of course, is sometimes easier said than done.
In a recent newsletter posting, Doug Bruhnke of Growth Nation (www.growthnation.com) had some pretty insightful thoughts about opportunity. “There are diamonds all around your feet; which are the ones within reach,” he wrote. He suggests a calm, deliberative approach to what could be. Look at the market, he said, and see what it is offering you that it didn’t offer a year or two ago. Determine how your team resources can open your business to more great opportunities.
Now, move on to determining the variety of opportunities available to discover which are the best for your business. Bruhnke said move forward on those ideas that make the most sense for you, figure out a plan for each one and determine the return on investment. He urges you to prioritize the opportunities and keep your analysis for future use so you keep your eyes open to the thought process.
Now, step number three in this process, is to work out a more detailed plan on the one or two best opportunity choices. Bruhnke comes up with some questions that should be answered at this point: As you develop details are assumptions holding? Does it still make sense to move forward?; Are you finding opportunities within opportunities? And is the idea still the best diamond for you?
Develop a launch plan, said Bruhnke. “Make sure people, especially your target audience, knows what’s happening and give them the choice to come on board,” stated the marketing expert. Watch out, compelling opportunities bring others along for the success.
Now the fun really begins. The fifth step in the opportunities process is to fully execute your plan. Be sure and check with your business team monthly on the progress of the plan. Follow this simple process: execute, measure, adjust and repeat.
Bruhnke noted there are dangers lurking in the opportunities forest like not even seeing the opportunities in the first place, not having a solid plan and not executing your plan effectively.
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