Originally posted – Apr 09, 2012
Once upon a time a myth was perpetuated and accepted that all you had to do was keep your money in the stock market, and you would eventually become wealthy and retire, surrounded by palm trees, at age 65 to a life of ease and luxury.
Just buy and hold your stocks and – in time and with patience (and your guaranteed pension and social security, of course) – your financial dreams would come true. This method was accepted as being locked in forever, and nothing would change.
Sounds like a fairy tale? It should, because it was – and is. We have learned the uncomfortable lesson that the past is not a prologue for the future. What worked in the past, like most things in life, works until it doesn’t. Preconceptions limit perceptions but, alas, often we see only what we believe.
The world, including the financial and business world, has changed drastically and dramatically during the last decade or so. Remember the stock market crash of September 2008? In just a few hours, the value of American industry plummeted by $1.6 trillion – and worldwide the loss was more like $5 trillion.
Have you ever heard of Moore’s Law? Gordon Moore is the co-founder of Intel, and he observed that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. As a result, Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future.
Although that pace has slowed down a bit in recent years, data density has doubled approximately every 18 months. And most experts figure that Moore’s Law likely will hold up for about another 20 years or so.
In a nutshell, this means that computer processing will continue to get faster and faster and, therefore, information technology processing will become faster and more sophisticated so that data can be transmitted and utilized at lightning speeds. This will affect stock trading, manufacturing, communications, banking, medicine, travel, marketing, education and your self-service laundry – among thousands of additional events. Hence, both your personal life and business life will continue to change dramatically. So get used to it.
Most changes we have and will experience are the result of highly technical innovations, but it’s not necessary that you understand them in detail, just know how to use them. For example, you don’t have to understand the physics of flight and the technology that propels an aircraft to book a seat and travel. But it’s important for you to know where the airport is and what time you will arrive at your chosen destination.
Our world has changed significantly for a number of reasons. Most important are the amazing technical advances that have occurred, mainly having to do with the speed of information technology. Today, you have the ability – because of the Internet – to use Google and other search engines to access vast and unlimited amounts information and data. This was not the case in the past.
Secondly, personal digital devices, such as mobile phones and iPods, and voice-over-Internet technologies, like Skype, are now available to everyone at reasonable prices. (My first cell phone cost me $3,200! And it had to remain permanently installed in my car!)
In addition, with sophisticated logistics firms like UPS and FedEx, goods can be shipped, easily tracked and received from any point on earth to their destination in less than a day. So, if your laundry machinery needs a unique part, you can have it literally in a period of hours. You may be used to this service now, but it is a relatively recent event.
Lastly, let’s not forget our individual ability to upload information (some true and some false) onto the Internet. Social media – such as YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others – have had dramatic effects on our lives, just as today’s bloggers have had a profound influence over what we read, think about and believe.
We live in a “Gotcha Culture,” meaning that whatever you do or don’t do can immediately be looked into and put onto the Internet. It often seems like everyone is trying to catch everyone else doing something; just look at the current pre-presidential election politics, and you can find examples of this nearly every day.
How does all of this apply to owning and running a coin laundry? The answer is in many ways. For example, because of your customers’ ability to upload information onto the Internet (be it true or false), it is wise for you to scan the Web for comments about your laundry. What you don’t know can absolutely hurt you.
Also, if you use coupons, it’s prudent to number or code them, because with modern technology duplication is relatively easy.
And, speaking of coupons, you can place them on your website for customers to download and print out, thus eliminating distribution costs.
Did you know that with modern technology it’s easy to put a video on your website? It is. Now you can display your dazzling personality and give potential customers a virtual tour of your laundry facilities as well. This brings your website to life. And you can even incorporate customer testimonials, which are highly effective.
Do you have a multi-cultural customer base? Now you can use Google, for example, to research their specific preferences and lifestyles so that you can design your advertising and marketing campaign to best reach these customers in a manner they will most appreciate.
Hiring new employees? You can utilize a number of search engines to determine whether there is anything negative you might need to know about particular applicants before you actually hire them. Information of this nature is readily available and could save you a lot of aggravation down the road.
Do you want to get into the advertising business? Modern flat-screen televisions can be programmed to accept ads from other local retailers (like a neighborhood pizzeria, for instance) for which they will pay you based on the number of “gross impressions,” which is the amount of customers who can see their ad in your laundry over a specific period.
The list is endless. Modern technology enables you to pay bills online (thus eliminating the cost of checks), gather information about other coin laundry promotions anywhere in the country, and watch your laundry in real time on your smartphone or computer from anywhere in the world.
Need to borrow or invest money? The Internet will supply you with a huge number of sources. Need interior signs? You can find them easily and inexpensively on the Internet – and you can design them yourself and have them in 48 hours.
Tired of paying for expensive print ads? Why not try inexpensive, respectfully written e-mail blasts to a targeted group of market segments in your trade area? These messages can even be customized by individual language to be more effective. They also can incorporate a video of your laundromat. How cool is that?
Our new world is fast-paced, and it’s changing all the time. Keeping up is what it’s all about. Competition is tougher than ever because everyone knows what everyone else is doing, thanks to the speed of information technology. The word gets out mighty fast. The town crier was rendered obsolete by the printing press, and today’s newspapers and magazines are fast being replaced by digital modes. To keep up and get the edge, you need more dreams than memories. Forget about the “good old days” because they’re old and gone.
A lot of people know the price of everything, but the value of nothing. You can use the digital video ad on your website to point out your unique selling features and value pillars. As you know, there is a difference between price and value. The idea is to capture market share. The money is always out there; it’s just the pockets that seem to change.
Ads on the Internet and websites of your competitors can be easily viewed. Like playing poker, there is more to being in business than beating the odds – you also have to anticipate the strategic moves of the other players.
Today’s business world is mighty fast-paced. You can’t afford to be lethargic. You have to be aggressive and take some chances, but how you run your laundry business depends to some degree upon whether you want to eat well or sleep well. The best approach is to run it so that you can do both.
It’s about staying vigilant and in the game at all times. Today’s ultra-competitive world demands it. One day you can be on top of your world and the next you are sprinting to catch up. Running your laundry means you are constantly either protecting your market share, or needing and trying to grow it. It is not wise to assume that your current methods will be effective forever. The caveat in business is: don’t push your luck.
I’m reminded of an African proverb that sums it up perfectly – which I strongly suggest you frame, place on your office wall and view (often) as your new business model…
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.
It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up.
It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle.
When the sun comes up, you better start running.”
Now, go out and buy yourself a nice frame.
#CustomerService #BusinessManagement #PlanetLaundry #Article #Public #TheBusinessMind
