Most experienced entrepreneurs learn that opportunity comes from change that disrupts markets. Change creates new needs and leaves many current players in that market with outdated business models.
The challenge in turbulent times like these is that change has kicked into hyper-drive.
We are now seeing whole industries being shaken to their core.
For example, the modern restaurant industry in the US owes much of its success to a social changes that happened over thirty years ago. First, it was around that time that women entered the workforce in large numbers as a result of the push toward equality between the sexes. Second, around that same time we experienced a significant spike in divorce rates in this country.
As more and more families had two working parents or just one single working parent, dining out became less of a special occasional treat as it had been when I grew up, and more of a necessity for busy families with little or no time to prepare meals at home.
However, the current recession is so deep that it has altered the behavior of many families. We are seeing a sudden and sharp decline in dining out in this country, as can be seen in an article by Zachary Wilson posted at Fast Company yesterday:
According
to the latest numbers coming from the restaurant industry, some version
of this one-act play is taking place all over the country. Total
traffic declined 2.6% this past spring versus the same quarter last
year, the biggest decline in 28 years, says the NPD Group. And it’s
households with kids who are beating the hasty retreat from eating out.
One-third of dining traffic is groups with children, and this marks the
third quarter in a row families are cutting back. (Adult households
with no kids were stable this spring.)
Change both creates opportunity for entrepreneurs and it can take that same opportunity away in what can seem like a blink of an eye.
Know what forces in the economy and society drive your business. They are the ones that gave you success. Keep a careful eye on those forces throughout the life of your business, for in times like these opportunity can be quite fleeting.