Retail Change

Another one bites the dust.  Headlines this week tell the story of Borders giving up on saving any of its stores and shuttering all locations by September.  Many websites are speculating why Borders went from a market leader to loser.  The rise of the electronic book, Amazon’s increased muscle in the marketplace or a plethora of demographic changes.  The truth is that they did not plan for change.  As Heracleitus stated 2500 years ago:”Nothing endures but change.”  We know that most business leaders do not devote enough time to planning for change and even fewer create change that drives their industry or the world.  No matter what you do in today’s world, you are involved in selling and therefore you are involved in retail.  The delivering of a product or service to a customer.  So how do you avoid the Borders syndrome?  First of all, pay attention to your key metrics.  No matter what you do, you need to have sales and costs that are in line with those sales.  If either begins to get out of line, not hit your targets, you need to immediately react.  Do not wait for the elves to come in and fix the problem.  It will not happen.  Next, do not spend your time looking at the past to the point it erodes your ability to focus on the future.  Too many businesses continuously chew on past performance.  I like professional sports as an example to model.  While you may look at the game films after the big match, you spend most of the time getting ready and playing your next contest.  Now what else can you do?  Assemble trusted advisors and listen to what they have to say.  Every business needs to have a sounding board.  Whether that is a board of directors, consultants or even a good friend, listen to their advice and see if it will help you in your business plan.  It is wiser to spend some money now and adapt to and create change than to play ostrich and lose it all.  Just ask Borders…