The start of a new year is like that proverbial breath of fresh air. It is a way to just close the door on all that happened in the previous year, both good and bad, and start over.
It is the time to take a new look at things. Even if you have your business plan in place (and by now you should), there are still opportunities for growth if one keeps his or her eyes open.
Seena Sharp is an advocate of using competitive intelligence to grow ones business. According to Wikipedia, "A broad definition of competitive intelligence is the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization."
In a recent article, Ms. Sharp gave her five New Year's resolutions for decision makers to benefit by using competitive intelligence.
The first, she said, is to be skeptical of bad new and, for that matter, good news. New information relating to your business or industry is rarely complete. She said to invest time to determine if the new information is accurate, current and sufficient. This will lead to better business decisions being made now.
Her second suggestion is to read several trade publications (two or three) from other industries, titles you might not reach regularly.
"This does not require a lot of time," said Ms. Sharp. "Scan tables of contents to identify articles about changes, trends, or new approaches, some of which can be applied to your industry. You may be able to set up magazine swap with friends in other fields"
The goal is to find out how other types of business are reacting to the market forces such as outsourcing or a down economy. Look for changes and opportunities that are not yet visible in your industry and how they might help your business.
Ms. Sharp's third point involves finding opportunities in unexpected places - ask yourself "What does this mean for my business?"
She continued, "If you don't recognize and react to opportunities, another company will. It's really as simple as that"
The fourth resolution is to pay attention to unusual requests from prospective clients. For example, a company that makes fishing tackle boxes was able to move into other markets (storage makeup and crafts for teenage girls) because it saw the opportunity when someone asked if its product could be made in pink.
"Emerging markets often surface when an economy begins to rebound," said Ms. Sharp. "Pay special attention to unusual requests for your products or services, and really get to know new customers who may be seeing new ways to use what you provide."
Finally, bring back the employee suggestion box and reward those who give usable ideas.
To learn more about Ms. Sharp, go to
