If You’re Not First, You’re Last

Lesson 1- The Nature of Economy

The nature of the market is such that the company in the first position continues to gain customers and expand its size and influence while the weaker players make smaller gains. The dominant company benefits from its first-place position and grabs market share away from all the other contenders while those in second position or lower usually pay the price. Such is the nature of a competitive market in today’s world. 

Our world is characterised by rapid economic transitions. CEOs and investors often fear economic reductions that affect the entire financial prowess of a company. It becomes more difficult to raise capital, close transactions, and make accurate projections that affect planning at all levels. People become filled with uncertainty and doubt that negatively impacts their ability to make decisions. These game-changing economic times can occasionally require major transitions in our skill set as well, particularly following periods of extended expansion. People tend to become dependent on a surplus of opportunities, easy credit, and cheap money and develop an attitude inconsistent with reality when market forces work in the favour of a company. But the problem arises when things take a turn for the worse. Every weakness in the organization gets greatly magnified when times get tough. Mistakes become more costly and every transaction is marked by a high possibility of failure. 

Regardless of your product, service, or idea, and despite a challenging economy, you can be first so strive to be there. You must aim to acquire such a position within your company and career in which you are not susceptible to economic pullbacks and start thinking in terms of creating your financial system. 

When the economy changes from favourable to a rough one, people’s responses to it widely vary. Most commonly these are denial, anger, resentment, and even apathy. But lastly comes the phase of recovery. There is always hope and that means there is a way out. New companies, products, and even industries are born out of economic challenges. 

Two things to keep in mind are-

• there are precise actions that you can take to counter any contraction, and 
• contractions are excellent opportunities in which to expand and conquer market share.

Lesson 2- Four Responses to Economic Crisis: Part 1

There are four responses people have during economic contractions-

1. The Cheerleader Response echoes refusal to participate.
2. The Old-School Response is synonymous with denial and sticking to the usual. 
3. The Quitter Response emphasizes sitting and waiting till the
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