Full Speed Ahead?
Does a crisis for your competitors mean a golden opportunity for you? Be careful: The answer isn't as simple as you think.
It's 7 a.m., and you're driving to your office when the
radio news catches your attention. Big trouble has landed in one of
your competitors' laps. Maybe its employees have gone on strike
or perhaps a managerial bungle has angered throngs of its
customers.
"What a pity," you say to yourself with a grin.
"I guess that creates an opportunity for me now, doesn't
it?" With an espresso shot of adrenaline, you press the
clutch, shift into fifth gear and hit the gas--zipping to your
office with newfound excitement.
But hold on there, Speed Racer, you first need to heed those
"dangerous curves ahead" signs you're blowing by.
Conversations with a number of entrepreneurs and business experts
suggest you'd better beware: The road blocks that have shut
down your competition's lane may not leave the road completely
open for you.
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"A crisis that strikes your competition could turn out to
be fool's gold for you," warns Robert Andoh, director of
the University of Georgia Business Outreach Services & Small
Business Development Center in Norcross, Georgia. "In the end,
it might not have the impact you were hoping for."
Lee Echols, president of The Echols Group, a media and issues
management consulting firm in Atlanta, also advises caution.
"A crisis situation [at one firm] sometimes presents an
opportunity for another company," he says, "but there are
a lot of considerations that a competitor should [contemplate]
before trying to take advantage of the situation."
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