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Monday, August 30, 2010

Trends

Yaooh! What's Happenin . .?


One of the things we must look at is what are the trends that are happening today?
  • What situation is developing where consumers are buying items that are creating a trend?
  • What are the needs and wants of today's society and what are the characteristics of that society?
  • What is happening in your region or in the United States?
If we are catching a trend from the beginning of the trend, then we can be assured that our sales will be growing with that trend as the trend catches on. Trends last for a period of about 10 years. So, then if this is the case, we can be assured that our sales will be growing and we will be around for 10 years.

 An investor would look at the trends and compare the potential market growth to your sales trend. Are your sales increasing and growing in market share? Are you and your management team capturing the market with your product, and are you capable of maintaining that growth with your expertise and acumen? Would you gain the confidence of an investor or a banker?


Successful Trend Captors
  
Another thing to think about is whether we are able to change the way people do things and add value. Are we making life easier or more convenient for them with our product? (the Service and Convenience or Fast Action Trend). Let's look at Amazon.com. Amazon.com changed the way people purchase books. Consumers no longer have to go to a "bricks and mortar" store to select their books. They merely go to the Internet at Amazon.com and put in a title or author and all the books available are listed as a result of that search. The customer orders the book and it is delivered within a week to their door. You don't even have to go outside! After you read the book, you can sell it on Amazon.com, and you can read critiques of the book and offer you own. With this direct mail ordering format, Amazon.com can afford to offer their products at a lower price than the competition.
  
Think about Starbucks, the coffee vendor. Starbucks started in Seattle, Washington where people were developing and acquiring tastes for flavored coffee. Starbucks' management realized the trend was growing in Seattle and grabbed onto it. Now Starbucks locations can be seen in many cities across the United States and in Europe. Starbucks hit on the fact that Americans were interested in flavored coffees and developing a taste for good coffees. Not only was this taste developing, but Americans were willing to pay the premium prices that Starbucks charges for its richly brewed java! Starbucks created an environment where patrons could read their daily newspapers, read their email on their lap tops while sitting and enjoying their coffee at their leisure.

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