Hurry Up and Slow Down

It's a delightful oxymoron that has a few different forms: hurry up and relax, hurry up and slow down, hurry up and smell the roses. The idea is that speed is required for a task that fundamentally can't be hastened, and it illustrates a belief that seems to permeate the business world a little too prevalently. Truly, the market environment has sped up substantially, and any organization wishing to keep up must be quick on their feet, ready to adapt, and not fall victim to slow bureaucratic processes of proposals and approvals. Small business is no exception, even among those that have carved out their niche piece of the market and have relative stability. For all the focus that everyone has on the speed of business, the subtleties of slow diligent business has been all but lost. Subtleties that, if not revived within an organization, make the difference between missing the window of opportunity and misinterpreting a proverbial brick wall for a window of opportunity.

Take, for example, the current state of the world, and how businesses are reacting. While the overall degree to which different regions have gone into (draconian) lockdown measures for a large part of 2020, the notion of the speed of business was very obvious. Look at any corner store or drug store, and the advertisements of "buy masks here" or "Covid supplies available" are a prime example of rapidly responding to a market need. Locally, at least, the 7-11 never carried masks, and certainly did not have an entire display dedicated to small hand-sani bottles. Medical supply stores did not require proof you were a doctor to purchase latex or plastic disposable gloves in an attempt to deter stockpiling. Toilet paper became a hotter commodity than gold. Several companies even released their own 'swag' apparel as cloth masks with their branding on it or the ability to design your own mask. This is not to say that any of these practices are necessarily bad, but there is an important caveat with the way all the aforementioned examples were (and in some places, still are being) executed. A caveat that we will put on hold for a minute.

As a different example, to paint a picture of a similar story that is perhaps more relatable or recognizable, and certainly not as situational, imagine the seasonal pop-up stores that crop up as their time of year rolls around. Spirit of Halloween and Halloween Alley are two that can be found in abundance from mid-September to very early November, at which point it seems Spirit of Christmas and Destination Christmas magically appear overnight in the same locations until early January. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, these stores disappear, until a year hence. The concept of a pop-up store or seasonal store is nothing new, and might appear, at first glance, to be the same business model that other companies have been emulating with their responses to covid supply needs. The caveat, however, appears here in the planning of how to execute the full business plan. Seasonal stores are reacting to a market need, much in the same way as the local 7-11 is, and they are both reacting fairly quickly. The difference is that the seasonal store has planned every part of the process, whereas the 7-11 has almost assuredly has not.

The predictability of the seasons does undoubtedly assist the seasonal stores in planning not only their entry timing into the market, but also their exit strategy. Halloween season is fairly defined, and so one might claim that it is an unfair comparison to say that seasonal stores are 'reacting' to market conditions. Nevertheless, the complete plan, from entry to operation to exit, remains well-defined in the example of a seasonal store. The example 7-11 has only recognized the market need, and planned a methodology to fill that new need. Beyond that, the plan remains vague, if defined at all.

What does this mean for your organization? Recognizing shifts in the market, new demands and needs, and reacting quickly is important. Much more than that, however, is the wisdom to carefully plan before rapidly executing said plan. In business, the best practice is to follow the mantra above: plan carefully, execute rapidly. Toyota, for example, is a pioneer and proprietor of this, to great success. A slow implementation of any plan will put you behind competition, and at a great disadvantage. Slow enough implementation can even result in missing the opportunity altogether. Implementation itself, however, must be evaluated properly from start to finish, and not done in a knee-jerk reaction. Taking the time to properly fashion a plan of attack, whatever the situation is, will allow for proper risk-evaluation and opportunity assessment. It defines an entry, an operation, and an exit. Like any opportunity, the timing is limited, and being stuck as the last one in a diminishing market can lead to substantial losses. When the 7-11 has massive stockpiles of hand-sani that it cannot sell, because the demand has all but disappeared (or at least returned to 'normal'), they will be in a precarious situation. The muda - waste - in the form of excess inventory ties up shelf space, ties up financial resources, and limits what options they have to off-load the remaining stock. The lack of the plan in its entirety, has transformed an excellent opportunity to meet a market need into a burden that has several costs associated with it.  

Speed in business is critical, but a proper plan is even more so. Plan carefully, execute rapidly, such that you and your organization can truly capitalize on any opportunities that the market presents. Doing so will position your organization to be able to maximize each scenario's potential, without getting stuck missing out on future potential. Diligent and repeated execution of a careful plan will inevitably bring success and stability.