As a business owner, I’m sure you have thought about the market your company is in.  Maybe it was when you first thought about starting your business, when you were doing your business plan, or when you were revising your marketing plan.  Regardless, as business professionals, we all understand how important it is to understand your market. Some things that you want to keep in mind when thinking about the market your company is in are: what is the market outlook, how you measure up against competitors, and can the market grow.

When evaluating the outlook of a particular market, I like to think of Kodak.  Kodak was one of the leading companies in the 20th century. They were best known for photographic film.  Established in 1888, Kodak continued to grow to dominate the market and eventually had 90% of the market share of photographic film sales in the US.  This is huge!  Can you imagine having that?  It can happen, just be sure to keep a few things in mind.  One being technology is constantly developing.  Although Kodak reached a 90% share in the ’70s, sales began to decline in the ’90s due to the introduction of digital photography.  Kodak simply wasn’t prepared for this market shift.  This is why it is so important to be innovative or up on the latest trends.  The market changes as technology emerges.

Being innovative and/or keeping up with the current trends are key indicators of how you measure up to your competitors.  For example, if you are selling products and do not do so on your website but the next guy 2 miles down the street who has the same products is, you are in trouble!  That person’s revenue is going to exceed yours without a doubt.  Consumers have the ability to order whenever they want and they don’t have to travel to your store all the time.  You have to remember that when you have an online presence and people can order your items on your website, you’re not limiting yourself to just consumers in your area.  Anyone can buy from you.

This brings me to my next point.  When you have a website, you are part of the world wide web.  Take this literally…anyone in the world can access your website!  This is great!  It opens you up to a global market.  Now, not only can you make more money, but you have more competitors too.  This is why it is so important to offer the best services or products.  In order to do so, you have to, without a doubt, have the best people in place.  Let’s face it, you can’t run a company by yourself.  You need people to assist you.  Everyone from directors to entry-level staff.  If you don’t have people in place to help you deliver the best product or service, you aren’t going to survive.

We know this puts a lot of added pressure on you but we have good news!  When you enter the global market, you are not alone.  We understand that you have to have a great plan in place to keep your business going, finances have to be in order, and your marketing efforts have to be solid.  We get all that and we know that we are adding having the best staff on your plate too.  You’re probably thinking, “How am I going to manage all of this?”  The good news is, a staffing firm can help you.

Staffing firms understand that you are competing in a global market in today’s world.  They get that things can get tough so they work hard to ease the pain.  They take the time to understand your struggles and your business goals and get you the best people to help you achieve all you’ve ever dreamed of.  And, another great thing is that if the business really gets great and you end up having a physical location overseas, they can help you staff there too!  Any good staffing agency should be keeping up with current trends and have cloud-based applicant tracking systems which enable them to attract talent from anywhere.

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