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Hi, it’s Wiko, your friendly German Shepherd.

I heard an interesting story when I was walking in the park with my humans, and I wanted to share it with you.

When passing by a couple of people sitting on a bench, I (by sheer accident!) overheard one of them talk about how last summer he had attended a church service on a mountain. When it is time for announcements, they also take care of any business matters the group has. The issue during this service was the purchase of a new amplifier, microphone, and speakers for the group. Two people had been assigned the task of going shopping for the new equipment.

The shoppers reported they went into the town below to the locally owned music store to look at the items available. It seems as they shopped, they explained the concern for the way the sound would reflect in the building that was being used. The building is very cavernous, and the walls and floor are made of hardwood.

If those in attendance could not hear the person speaking, they would have made the purchase incorrectly. They asked about taking the equipment, or someone from the store bringing the equipment to the building to give it a “test run” to make sure they had made the correct choice. If the pieces of equipment sampled were not correct, notes would be taken, and another selection would be made.

The shoppers reported the shop owner said that would not work. Testing the equipment at the church (as compared to someone asking to test the equipment in the shop) would mean the equipment was now used and would have to be sold as such, meaning the shop owner would not make any money on that particular piece of equipment. Of course, someone in the service asked for the name of the shop that was visited. In sharing the name of the shop, the shoppers commented, “Gee. It would be easier to shop online. You usually get thirty days to return something to them, and they deliver the merchandise to you.” Now you have everyone in this group having heard of the experience. Even those of us who are not regular online shoppers understood their concern and their logic for second guessing their choice of where to shop. This scenario, while not unique, is an example of how one business beats another. A business determines what a competition cannot do or will not do for their customers. The business simply calculates the cost of providing this service as well as the frequency of needing to provide this service. Sometimes a business spends more time figuring out how to stop that one person from taking advantage of them than they spend determining how they can better serve those that just want to do business. We have all seen a lot of changes. One factor that remains consistent; every successful new business has researched the aspect previously mentioned – what the competition will not or cannot do. When they determine what they can add to the experience, or the challenge they can eliminate, they exploit it to the advantage of the customer and their business. Online stores will not be the death of any small business. The small business that loses will find enough ways on their own to lose to whatever becomes the next wave in competition. When we choose not to adapt to the next change in business, what is our logic now for growing our business?

Let me know what your thoughts on this are.

Love,

Wiko

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