Many big businesses are struggling with downsizing, rightsizing, and other kinds of sizing activities that are aimed at reducing costs and building efficiencies. As big companies do these sizing things they regularly use strategies that foist work on smaller businesses. Sometimes the big businesses insist their suppliers do the extra work...the auto sector and Walmart have embraced this strategy for decades. Sometimes the big businesses insist their customers do the extra work...perhaps that's what the insurance companies are doing right now.
In any event, much work is off-loaded from the backs of big businesses onto the backs of small businesses.
In many instances, the small business people accept this as a fact of life. Small businesses who serve as suppliers to the auto sector have informed me in no uncertain terms, "We must accept this as a cost of doing business." And, I've let them know just how fragile their business model is and always will be if they accept that way of thinking.
Why are these people more-or-less oblivious to the fact they have choices?
Have any of these people taken the time to understand the 80/20 Rule?
Why don't these people perform cost/benefit analyses or some other analyses that will help them understand saying "Yes" is killing their businesses?
Why are these people so hungry for volume they bite off huge chunks of extra work then choke on them?
Why don't these small-business people at least make an attempt to simplify or, better still, automate the work that gets dumped on them by the big businesses?
I know how they'd answer those questions.
"We're too busy to figure out stuff like that."
- Too busy to seek out 3rd Alternatives
- Too busy to borrow brilliance from other business sectors
- Too busy to negotiate
- Too busy to learn better ways
No kidding...
Of course they're too busy!
They're too busy doing work that has been discarded by other folks who know they cannot afford to do it.
***
True entrepreneurs don't let their businesses get caught in these sorts of traps.
True entrepreneurs see the problem coming at them.
As the problem approaches they make a quick decision: does this Problem contain the seeds of an Opportunity?
'Yes' or 'No'?
Quickly now, 'Yes' or 'No'?
If 'No' then simply don't accept the off-loaded work.
If 'Yes' then figure out how - innovate how - to take on the extra work and gain profit from it.
And - sometimes 'Yes' means the creation of a new service or product.
And sometimes 'Yes' means the creation of a new small business.
And, on occasion 'Yes' means the discovery of a gold mine.
And... Regularly, people think or say - "Why didn't I think of that?"
...Exactly!