What Charles Darwin Thinks About Your Small Business

There's a great quote in this month's Fast Company by Charles Darwin who turns 200 this February 12th. Talk about survival of the fittest.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.

We live in what the Chinese might describe as "interesting times." Small businesses and entrepreneurs need to pay attention to what's going on an adapt; the current economic tremors destroy old ways of doing business and reveal new ones. MP3s emerge as a way of listening to music; the music industry suffers, Apple gets its groove back.

• Economic and environmental concerns make printed ads and direct mail pieces more expensive and less desirable.
• Organizations and non-profits continue to send out print newsletters to an aging population when their next generation of members and supporters are more likely to read emails, listen to podcasts, read blogs or view YouTube videos.
• Search is probably the number one way new prospects will find your business, yet most businesses continue to spend heaps of money on traditional advertising and very little on search.
• People (your customers) flock to social media sites, yet most small businesses either ignore these sites or jump in ignorantly, viewing them as another channel to recycle their tired marketing messages.

I certainly don't know what's coming next. Conditions will continue to change, new products and new applications will come to market that will change the way we do business in ways I can't imagine.

However, Darwin's reflections on the natural world continue to have relevance in the business world today. You may be strong, you may be intelligent, but are you adaptable to change? Things are changing faster and faster and only the nimblest will survive.

Rich Brooks
Small Business Web Marketing

Comments

[J Sandifer]

Great post Rich...the companies that decide to embrace the new paradigm will certainly come out of this economic slowdown much better. I think we will see a weeding out of those that should not be here in the first place(guess that is what your article is all about). I too agree that smaller companies will have an advantage here! I know that we have not bought a print ad recently and will continue to fine tune our presence online at all times and across the breath of social media outlets...not forgetting organic search! Thanks for continually producing good content :)

[debt]

This is an excellent article. To the point and 100% true. I really appreciate folks such as yourself who take the time to write these articles for the rest of us. Bravo!

[Roberto Davis]

Entrepreneurs need to pay attention to what's happening in the economy. The present economic dilemma can destroy traditional ways of doing business and expose new ones. It's always important to keep with the latest trends in modern technology, but it's prudent to weed out the hype from technology with longevity.