Everything in life is in a constant state of motion and this means that like the four seasons there are different yet distinct cycles that occur. Every business has three phases, the birth, the life and the death phase.

What determines the long term success of any business is to continually create new and innovative ways to fulfill the markets needs. By doing this you are renewing the life cycle of your product or service. Ultimately this is the only way that you can guarantee that your business will be around for the long run. To do this however means that you must always be future oriented and pacing future trends of the market.

A distinction that can be made here is the difference between trends and fads. Fads will go just as quickly as they come, where as trends will last for the long term.

Having the ability to detect future trends beforehand requires skill. It also requires that you are prepared to make changes based on your beliefs of these future trends, well in advance. People who do this will always be at the forefront of their particular market. A great example of creating a renewable market for a product is that of Bi-Carb Soda.

For those that will remember Bi-Carb Soda was first used as a rising agent in plain flour. Every household in that day and age would have stocked Bi-Carb Soda in their pantry. However it wasn’t long before somebody thought up the idea of self raising flour.

Now Bi-Carb was no longer a necessary commodity. Their market share began to fall rapidly. What would you have done if you were the manager? Looked for other products? Re-geared the manufacturing plant? Closed down and said that you were ruined?

They created a new life cycle.

Yes, by being innovative and looking at new and future markets they were able to educate the public in a host of new ways to use their product. Some of these included using Bi-Carb to remove stains from the carpet, also to use in the refrigerator as a way of removing nasty odours.

And most recently of all Bi-Carb Soda is being used in toothpaste as a way of whitening your teeth. These along with many other ideas helped the company to not only survive, but to ensure that the long term success of the product was a certainty. It doesn't matter what industry that you may be involved with there will always be new life cycles that can be created.

Nothing great was ever invented by those who continued to think in terms of limitations. We are only ever limited by our own imaginations. People who are limited in their thinking live limited lives.

Step back from your present position and ask yourself “How will people be dealing with my industry in the future? How will they be valuing what I have and what other ways will they be engaging or using my product or service?”