Signs of the Times - September 2020 - 14

TR E NDSET TE R PRO FILE

Three Steps to Diversify
and Protect Your Business
R

evenue projections? Missed. Business plan?
Shelved. Next steps? TBD.
For many shop owners, this is their mid-pandemic
reality check. Even those who have successfully
shifted to printing and installing COVID-related
messages are facing the uncertainty of not knowing
what will happen next.
Businesses need more than a short-term patch.
They need a plan to diversify their product offerings and mitigate future economic convulsions.
Not sure where or how to begin? Here are three
steps to get the process started with the goal of
increasing business from your current customers
while attracting new prospects to try your core
services.
TAKE A PULSE
Start by researching your customers. What challenges
are they facing? What do they need to fix those
problems? Think beyond your core business. Look
at their big picture.
Call your best customers. Ask how they're doing
and what they need. Listen and take notes. Trends
will appear. Now ask yourself, "What can I do to
profitably meet one of these needs?"
Next, research your competitors. Look at their ads
and social media posts. Talk to mutual customers.
What have they added that would also make sense
for you?
At JDS Sign Supply, we've seen many shops
successfully diversify beyond floor graphics and
clear acrylic guards to customizable face masks,
mask clips and hand sanitizer.
BUILD PARTNERSHIPS
Sometimes the new product line you add utilizes
equipment already in your shop. For example, many
of our customers whose lasers started idling early
in the pandemic have built significant business

JDS INDUSTRIES
(855) 537-2228
art@jdsindustries.com

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

SEPTEMBER 2020

using them to personalize products like drinkware,
gifts and corporate awards.
At other times, diversifying will mean adding
new equipment and providing more training for
your staff. If that's a bigger bite than you're ready
to take, start looking for partners who can deliver
white-labeled production for you. By outsourcing
the production of a new product line, you can test
the strength and profitability of the market before
committing to a long-term investment in equipment.
If you'd like to learn more about the wholesale-only
fabrication services available from JDS, give us a call
at (855) 537-2228 or email art@jdsindustries.com.
TRY THE 70/20/10 INNOVATION THEORY
Commit 70% of your resources to continuing what's
made money in the past. Spend 20% implementing
ideas to improve your core business. Invest 10%
swinging for the fences... adding new products or
services. If this 10% works, great! If it fails, your
losses are contained.
The world looks very different today than a few
months ago. It's changing by the day. Don't let the
success or failure of one attempt to diversify keep
you from trying again. Don't stop looking for the
next trend. Innovation must be ongoing!

Signs of the Times - September 2020

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