And all retailers may find different ways to market with virtual tools and to rapidly expand online strategies. The point is before you market what you are, you must know what you are. Then, it becomes a matter of telling people what you are. This requires advertising, marketing, and public relations, using both traditional and newer methods. Positioning your business for success will help you, first, increase your chance of survival in a crisis and, second, improve the long-term profitability of your business once the market recovers. And, by the way, it turned out that Penn Central wasn’t even in the railroad business.
They were actually in the real estate business. So as a business owner … it is imperative to step back and determine exactly what business you are in. Is your business a manufacturer of a certain type of parts … or are you really in a “service” or simply an “assembly solutions” business? Knowing this … is the first step to redeploying your assets to address the market as it changes in good times and bad. But it is more important in times of trouble because there may be no second chances to find the opportunity match for your business .
It may not be easy or immediately evident … but as you can see from the history of Penn Central, knowing what business you are in—or should be in —makes a critical difference. Not knowing puts you at ever-increasing risk! As the result of massive changes around you, this one assessment and revelation can make all the difference in the plans you develop.