Portland, Oregon's journalists speak with one voice: We must scale back.
Work leaner.
Yet, locally, the legislature took no steps to cut the fat.
It is understandable.
Need is great.
Priorities vary.
It is hard to get consensus to act.
In most states, Oregon included, the economic news advances the premise that we can no longer afford the size and scope of services we are used to.
Something has to give.
But if that is not happening, is there another approach to this dilemma? Perhaps we are not being entrepreneurial enough.
Case in point: Hollywood Entertainment, innovator of movie rentals, is being liquidated.
Blockbuster Inc.
, another movie rental company, is staving off bankruptcy.
Netflix and Redbox are rolling on.
These newcomers got on board early with their recognition that online shopping is where it's at.
This kind of mindset makes traditional retailers roll their eyes.
Presently, estimates state that online shopping accounts for only 6% of all retail sales nationally.
It is also estimated that Netflix chipped away at its retail competitors to rise to a 35% market share last year.
Digital options on websites such as Hulu expect more growth per the analysts.
One of the last standing brick and mortar movie suppliers in Portland is Movie Madness.
How does this stand alone do it? Mike Clark, the owner, sums it up: He doesn't try to deliver all things to all people.
By specializing in hard to find films, special releases and foreign films, he delivers to a targeted niche.
What are the lessons? 1) Respond proactively to changing markets.
Online business accounts for only a sliver of the total marketplace.
It gives consumers wide access 24/7.
The entrepreneur should be jazzed at the thought of untapped potential.
Hulu is rumored to be working on an IPO.
It hopes to raise $2 billion.
That's a lot of popcorn.
Comcast announced plans to add over 9000 new titles to on-demand service.
Its national pay-per-view sales should exceed $1billion.
More serious popcorn.
The point: By adjusting to market conditions, movie suppliers did not sink with the ship.
They made it to the lifeboats and cruised.
The same thinking applies for any business opportunity.
It speaks volumes about what can be accomplished with online business.
If we can't scale back, we can grow by thinking this way.
The idea of scaling back should be boo-ed and hissed by anyone with a shred of an entrepreneurial streak.
2) If you continue to offer quality service to your niche, you can grow.
Learn a lesson from Mike Clark at Movie Madness.
By responding to his clientele's interests, he is a survivor where others are failing.
If you combine the wisdom of lessons (1) and (2), you could double your success.
Take your business where people are active-online--and give them what they want.
Build a personal relationship so that they will think of you as the 'go-to' source.
Entrepreneurs are doing that daily.
Government should give a listen.