Slowdown....lets jump the competition!

What I have said many a time, and strongly believe in, tough times are the best times to jump the competition and rapidly expand your marketshare. This the time when your marketing dollar (or rupee) gets you a getter bang for the buck as everybosy else goes into a huddle. Some interesting surveys have been done and reported here in this article.

Crisis, a word when written in the chinese alphabet, represents both Danger and Opportunity.

Darrell Rigby, head of Bain's global retail practice and Steve Ellis, Bain's worldwide managing director, said: "The tumultuous events of the past few weeks have battered financial markets and created uncertainty that companies will be reckoning with for months. But in the turbulence lies opportunity.

"Like dangerous curves on a racetrack, economic downturns create more opportunities for companies to move from the middle of the pack into leadership positions than any other time in business.

"Unlike straightaways, where leaders can thrive on raw power alone, steep curves require strategic finesse. That often results in dramatic differences in performance as leaders steer out of the curve."

Another characteristic of companies that do well from a downturn, say the two Bain executives, is: "They make bargain acquisitions to build up their core, even when it means taking calculated financial risks. As markets improve, they are well-positioned to accelerate." The latest example: Bank of America's planned acquisition of Merrill Lynch, which may turn out to be "the strategic opportunity of a lifetime," says Ken Lewis, Bank of America's CEO.

So are we all ready to take the plunge!