Do You Have a Plan B?

Marketing Viewpoint by Ruth Winett

Do You Have a Plan B?
What To Do When Assumptions No Longer Hold

Don't Place "All Your Eggs in One Basket"

What if a hurricane destroys the sole manufacturer of your signature product? What if your company’s leading scientist retires or starts a competing company? What if you stand to lose your major customer because of tariffs or a fire. Are you ready? Companies should have a Plan B ready in case conditions change and assumptions no longer hold.

US companies have recently faced several disruptions:

New government policies/rules and regulations. Tariffs can make parts manufactured overseas prohibitively expensive. Instead of purchasing Chinese parts, some US companies are switching to Vietnamese manufacturers.
Supply chain disruptions. Suppliers can go out of business, and war, disease, or weather can disrupt trade routes. Thus, it is advisable to work with more than one supplier and preferably with suppliers from various locations.
Changes in customer demand/trends. Retailers must sell online as well as in stores or go out-of-business. Once streaming became popular, consumers retired their DVD players and cancelled their DVD subscriptions.
Technology advances—People get their news online, not from newspapers, and they listen to Spotify or YouTube, not CDs. Most major newspapers also offer online news.

Prepare a Plan B To Be Ready for Disruptive Changes

Observe emerging developments in the outside world--including political and geopolitical changes-- and evaluate how these changes could affect your business. Test long held assumptions about customers and the demand for your offerings. Be aware of changing business and consumer trends and how they might affect your business.

Do not rely on a single product, target market, supplier, distributor, or production facility. Enhance products and services to attract new customers and keep existing customers. Establish relationships with alternative suppliers and distributors. Finally, encourage innovation so that you are ready with new products of services. You will be able to face disruptive changes if you have a Plan B.

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