Right Place, Right Time?

　　At recent meetings of the leadership of SGIA, an interesting thing happened. In more than one of the meetings I attended, committee members took time to share with each other how their businesses were faring in the current economic environment, and tell what they were doing to bolster their businesses in the present and prepare for better times ahead. One by one, business owners and company representatives shared their experiences among very interested and empathetic peers. What struck me most was the variety of the stories presented. Some companies finished 2008 with reportable growth, while others finished flat or down. Interspersed among them were companies that are still doing a strong business.

　　There is no doubt that our industry is diverse, and even among the membership of SGIA, few companies are exactly the same, making it difficult to compare them as equals. That said, I came out of these discussions with the impression that while running a business and achieving success are tasks to be managed, ultimate success is also a fleeting proposition, as dependent on the ebb and flow of the economy in general as it is on sound decision making. For some of the companies, the surprising successes they are experiencing today may be due to sheer luck, or at least being in the right place at the right time. Companies feeling the negative side of the ledger book may be feeling the contraction of customers; local, regional or economic downturn; or the risk-rife benefits of operating in highly-competitive but saturate markets.

　　Part of the challenge many companies are facing today stems from that fact that the ultimate decision to do business with an imaging company – or to even invest in graphic applications – often originates a few steps upstream of where our business transactions normally take place. When the marketing or manufacturing budgets of major manufacturers or retailers go away, so then goes the flow of work that feeds us. Those serving the automotive industry, for example, are feeling this in a particularly strong way.

　　Also common among companies at the meeting was a strong and very understandable drive to create strategies to make it through until the inevitable economic upturn, which hopefully will come sooner than later. Many companies are streamlining processes. Others are cutting unproductive staff. Other have sworn off capital investments for the year ahead. All understand the need to survive the current situation and emerge from the end of the economic crisis leaner and better prepared to hit the ground running. There will surely, however, be a weeding out in this and many other industries. If your company has not yet formed a strategy, then start today, or risk being in the wrong place at the wrong time.