Newsletters
2nd Quarter 2009 Newsletter
Fine Tune Your Niche
Are your company profits changing about as quickly as the federal economic policy and programs? If so, when was the last time you assessed your business and its profitability? With the broad reaching, negative effects of today's volatile economy, the majority of industries are down-sliding. In light of the darkening economics, it is time to ask yourself these two foundational questions:
- What do clients or customers value most about my company?
- Where am I most profitable?
At Acquisition Consultants we asked ourselves the same questions. It was hard to admit, but we acknowledged that we tend to perform poorly in certain areas. We were astonished to find the large quantity of time and resources these tasks consumed. They also proved themselves unprofitable.
Conversely, we acknowledged areas in which we excelled. Then we got wise to the tasks we performed swiftly and proficiently. We discovered that these areas generated profits for everyone involved. More importantly, they generated higher profits for our clients.
This brainstorming session led us to fine tune our niche. We concluded that Acquisition Consultants solves problems and sees potential profit centers when others do not. This is where we shine. We love to negotiate and capture atypical returns for our partners and clients.
Acquisition Consultants decided as a firm to streamline into two distinct but related divisions. We plan to focus on our Problem Asset Division and our AC Real Estate Fund because in these areas our clients are the most satisfied with our performance and their economic returns.
We also plan to shed any commercial real estate functions that are not in our niche. It is tough to say "no" to work in a bad economy, but saying "yes" to work that strains our business resources is economically harmful as well.
Could a similar story be true for your business? I would urge you to ask the two tough, foundational questions. If answered honestly, you will likely be compensated handsomely for it.
Tough times are wonderful opportunities to fine tune our businesses and distinguish ourselves. Use this time to enhance your company and be courageous enough to rid yourselves of weakness. Let go of work which should have never been pursued. It may lead to a new niche complete with handsome rewards.
