Driven to Business with Eddie Mayfield

Business opportunities always exist.  During the depths of the great depression, there were entrepreneurs who saw great opportunity and in fact, became wealthy.

The trick is to look at the environment from a different angle.  I heard a speech by famed quarterback Peyton Manning who said his job was to scan the field and see things that others don’t.  Things such as where the safeties are lined up, and call an audible when prudent.

As a business leader, that’s your job as well.

Think all opportunities are gone? Read  these quotes from the past:

• “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” Charles Duell, US Patent Office, 1899
• “The horse is here today, but the automobile is only a novelty-a fad” President  of Michigan bank advising against investment in Ford.
• “What use could this company make of an electric toy?” Western Union turning down rights to the telephone.

When I was in the US Coast Guard, I had a chief electronic technician tell me, “This solid state stuff is not here to stay.  Concentrate on tubes”

Do you get the pattern?  Many, if not most, people fail to see trends and the opportunities they present.  J. Paul Getty put his inheritance at great risk by buying  depressed oil stocks when everyone else was dumping them.  When the great depression ended and oil prices rose, he became a billionaire.

It’s not always true of course, that going the opposite direction of everyone else is a winner.  But, in most cases, that  is what winners do.  The trick is to spot opportunities others are running away from.

Many business people fall into the trap of nostalgically longing for past times.  “Things were great in the 90’s.”  Well, the nineties are gone, and we live in what is the new normal.  If you’re going to be successful, you must do it in the environment of now, not the past.

Change simply for change’s sake is a disaster.  But, not adapting to a changing business environment is suicide.

Former GE Chairman Jack Welch said, “I am convinced that if the rate of change inside an organization is less than the rate of change outside, the end is in sight.”

For almost all businesses, whether you will change isn’t the question.  You almost certainly will.  But, will it be a healthy controlled change, or will it be a very unhealthy change forced on you by the market?

Businesses today face a rate of market change that is probably unparalleled.  When I started my career, almost no one owned a computer.  Now, about 85% percent of American households own at least one.  The internet has grown even more rapidly, transforming almost all of modern life.

Not all changes are positive, in fact, many are frighteningly negative.  But, the smart business person, like a good quarterback, looks over the heads of the team lined up against him and spots the holes.

Here are some examples.

• During hard economic times, companies tend to pull back on capital spending, but spend more on selected services such as maintaining their equipment.   This presents great business opportunities to the discerning.
• With the increased cost of an employee, companies are outsourcing jobs they would have done in house in the past.  Think opportunity.
• History shows us that during hard times, the entertainment industry flourishes.
• There are recession proof industries, like water and waste water treatment.  Do you suppose that people flush their toilets less during bad times?  (just to be clear..  they do not)
• China recently ended its atrocious one child per family rule.  Aside from ending a morally reprehensible practice, it’s going to result in a huge baby boom, possibly the largest in history.  For the smart entrepreneur, that should look like an opportunity.

Here’s one tried and true way of anticipating change.  Ask your customers.  What new needs do they have, that they didn’t have a few years ago?  And since you’re the great business leader, why shouldn’t they use you to fulfill those needs?

Eddie Mayfield