by Siimon
3. February 2011 10:29
There's a phenomenon sweeping across the USA.
It's the self-serve yoghurt store.
A year ago, there were virtually none. Now there are literally thousands of them.
If you had started a store in the early days you would have thought you'd make a fortune. Eager customers crammed the stores.
But the idea was so good, copy cat stores proliferated at an astonishing pace.
Now hundreds of them are going out of business. There was simply way too many of them.
Now there's a lesson in this for all business owners.
No product advantage is sustainable.
If you're producing something good, you simply can't rest on your laurels. Competitors are coming, ready or not.
If you are not already working on your next idea, your next product, service or innovation, it's only a matter of time until your business declines.
Like the early self-serve yoghurt stores, you may think you've got a path to eternal riches, but really all you have is a year or two of good profits.
The answer? Relentlessly search for new opportunities, even when business is good right now.
Then, and only then, is your future in business assured.
As Ray Kroc the founder of McDonalds put it, when asked the secret to his success: "We can invent faster than they can copy."