This new economy we are in is changing how we all do business. Those who don’t rework their business model will quickly become irrelevant. You must find your place in this new economy. Newspapers are desperately struggling to find their way, but will they go away? Probably not, but they must, like us all, reassess value propositions, re-evaluate the benefits, re-engage with customers, and redefine our business models. It’s the time of the “re” words.
When the automobile arrived, you would have thought the horse industry would have disappeared. Today, the American Horse Council Foundation reports that the 9.2 million U.S. horses deliver $39 billion of direct and $102 billion of indirect economic impact. The car industry is bigger, but there are 500,000 people who work in the remade horse industry.
The travel agent industry is also seeing a rebirth. “In 2011, travel agencies experienced a second consecutive year of growth,” according to the New York Times. An improving economy is helping. But there is also hope because booking trips online does not offer the best of experiences. Travel agents are finding that they must provide more service to complete with online. Travel agents are helping sort through the Web information overload. They are becoming important filters of myriad offers and hype on the Internet. They are rebranding as travel advisers, not just travel agents.
Every business will need to sort on the impact of the new tools of communication, but you may want to start by assessing your audience first—What do they need now in the Internet world, what do they want from you in this new economy, what are the pain-points facing your customers today? As for newspapers, they will make a comeback when they realize they are not in the “news” business, but in the “people” business.
