The Sears case: Evolving and focusing to do business.

Evolving and focusing is the basic condition for doing business, the Sears case.

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Cover image: www.heritagesociety.org

It was yesterday’s news that the Sears chain has filed for Chapter 11 protection, the procedure that in America, precedes filing for bankruptcy.

Nearly a century of history. A powerhouse that has reached 900 stores and an impressive number of employees.

Yet it did not make it to face the challenge of the 21st century: the Internet.

Yes because this great challenge has drastically disrupted the world.

If you have read some of the articles published on this site, you will know how I feel:

“Change your business model before the world changes it for you, but not the way you want.”

Clearly, many companies have already adapted.

When I talk about change, I don’t just mean fully embracing new technologies and making the most of the new communication channels offered by the web: website, social, influencer etc.

I am mainly talking about focus.

That is, that approach or rather, strategy, which allows you to search and see what your most profitable niche market is.

And if you happen to find that it doesn’t exist…. then you’d better create it. It would allow you, without much effort, to become quickly, a leader in that niche market.

Focus, Excellence and Ethics are the three key words that every entrepreneur must constantly keep in mind when developing his or her company.

These days I have been involved in the creation of a new Company whose goal is to become a Leader first in Italy and then at the European level in the distribution of bamboo parquet.

We are already starting from an important base. So I am confident that we will achieve the first goal by June 2019.

But do you know what was one of the points I had to clear, with my new partner, right from the start?

“When we become a leader in the sale of bamboo flooring, then we will also flank the sale of bamboo furniture.”

No I told him, because that would mean de-focusing. If the market recognizes you skill, experience, know how in selling flooring, it cannot recognize you the same experience to professionalism in selling furniture. Even if both are made of bamboo they are two totally different niches.

Growth is not a problem. When you have reached saturation in one market, you move on to another market and then another.

In this way you manage to have a competitive advantage in purchasing product, maximize logistics and storage costs, and maximize technologies and personnel that it takes to manage a “mono-product.” That is the goal.

The more products you have in your portfolio, the more expertise and inventory you have to manage. Unless your business model is like Amazon or Ebay. Possible but difficult to achieve.

But back to Sears. I’m honest I don’t know the history and evolution of the Business.

I read some articles online, but from what I could gather was that over the years, they have expanded so much in their business offerings of selling through catalogs, they have found themselves selling houses as well.

I feel like I’m seeing again some stories now familiar to everyone like Kodak and Nokia.

We entrepreneurs have an obligation constantly to evolve, study, analyze the market and predict what is needed in the future.

And if we find that what we are accomplishing today may no longer be necessary, have the courage to change everything.

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Evolving and focusing to do business. The Sears case