Imagine you have a disagreement with your boss and you
find yourself out of a job. It all happens so quickly and you feel badly
treated, but you get back on the bike and start peddling again. Your path is
quite clear. You look for another job and re-direct your career.
But imagine you owned a book store 10 years ago. The
digital age was starting to impact your business and you knew you were losing
money but in this scenario the choices are not so clear. This is all happening
in a fog of time and nobody is going to fire you. You are still earning some
income and perhaps you can tweak a few things and ride out the storm. Few
bookstores have done that successfully.
I want to make it clear that I
am not identifying The Queen Victoria Market as the bookstore in this example.
A leading international retail adviser recently identified the perfect retail
environment as an exciting combination of The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Covent
Garden in London, and The Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne. But some of our stalls may be "book stores" and all
traders owe it to themselves to see through the fog of declining business and
make clear concise business decisions that will protect their future.