It seems today’s businesses are all running the same race, the competition though is evolving, getting faster and getting stronger, the race track is getting steeper and the turf is getting rougher. A marathon to say the least as this race never ends. There will be no winner but remember there will always be someone winning.

Who is winning?

You could probably answer this question yourself by looking at the pyramid image to the left and ask yourself which ball would I choose. Of course the gold ball is winning. The business which positions themselves here is the winning ball. You see that ball has not only made itself the obvious choice by being at the top of the pyramid and making it difficult for the consumer to even consider chosing another ball but it has also given itself a unique image which will be programmed into the consumers mindset. In fact I doubt that the consumer will even remember any of the other balls (other than referring to them as the other balls). By researching their competitors, defining their target market, developing a plan to differentiate themselves from their competitors and creating a Corporate image that appeals to that target market the Gold Ball has become the most attractive to consumers.

But this is a race!
Many of the silver balls will make the mistake of thinking “but the gold ball is at the top of the pyramid now, what chance do we have?”.
Remember its a race and its a long race. It takes positive thinking, effort and stamina to do well in any race, and most important of all anything can happen in a race. Other silver balls will be thinking “when I get to the top of the pyramid thats when I can afford to work on my image.”  The sad news is that their business is not likely to reach the top as the main reason why the gold ball got there is because of the work they have put into their image.

At this stage I know exactly what you are thinking. How are those silver balls going to get to the top of that pyramid. Well there just happens to be a couple of clever little silver balls in there. These clever balls have been working hard on their image and are no longer your average silver balls. They have been racing with a game plan so to speak. They realise that the gold ball’s image has started to tarnish because it has not been focussing on its own image as much as it should. The gold ball has forgotten that its a race, and in a race even the ball in front needs to work hard to stay ahead. The coloured balls (formerly clever silver balls) are beginning to look attractive to consumers.

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

What would happen if  Consumers liked what they saw in those new coloured balls??

The race is still on

After a major upset in the market place the balls frantically reshuffle to their positions just as would happen in a race. Not surprisingly we have a new leader and some other balls in a great position to to claim their share of the market and reap the rewards for the hard work they put into their image.

But its not over yet

Remember its a race, and that gold ball is a serious competitor. They know where they went wrong and they are working on their image as we speak. Will the gold ball get its position back?

Who knows anything can happen in a race…..

So now that you have come to realise you are running a race, you need to ask yourself “am I a silver ball or a coloured ball?” “am I at the top of the pyramid, at the bottom or somewhere in between?”. Either way you need to be focussed on the race, you need to develop a game plan and you need to (just as the clever balls did) make yourself more attractive to consumers.

We all know that an athlete may be the one running the race but behind the scenes is usually a coach or mentor who works hard to ensure the athlete has the resources and knowledge to be able to achieve their best performance. Do you have someone who can provide you with the solutions you need to run your best race? Do you have someone who can flatten the turf and lower the steep hill?  The clever little balls are usually the businesses that realise they need help to evolve into a “faster” “stronger” athlete. They need help from someone who knows how and can devote the time to do the research, the planning and then implement it all, someone who knows how to make your business look professional and get you running your best race.