Strategic Opportunities in Social Recreational Dance Markets

Strategic Opportunities for EXISTING Social Recreational Dance Businesses

Existing social recreational dance businesses are theoretically best positioned to take advantage of major opportunities in social recreational dance markets. But there are several factors that make it more difficult for them than for new entrants to the market. In this presentation I discuss those difficulties.

On an overall industry basis there are many different facets of existing social recreational dance businesses that get in the way of their being able to capitalize on the opportunities in their areas.

But on an individual-business basis, it is often just one major problem that keeps that particular business from being able to reach, or most often even see, the opportunity-fruits hanging above them.

For one existing social recreational dance business it's one thing, for another it's another thing, and for another it's yet another thing.

There are of course a limited number of 'things'. And on the overall industry basis there are lots of social recreational dance businesses with the same 'thing'; and of course the occurrence of multiple-'things' in individual businesses is not uncommon.

The good news is that the individual businesses that can overcome, transcend, transform, fix, change or neutralize their 'thing(s)' have a great shot at seeing and then capitalizing on the major opportunities around them.

The Way of the World > New People Bring the New Ideas & Reap the New Rewards

It's unfortunately the way of the world: in industry after industry, in endeavor after endeavor, it's the new people who bring the new ideas and create the new vitality and new growth phases of the industry. It's unfortunate because those who've put in such long years and such hard work should reap the rewards.

But part of the long years and hard work is the inability to see from the outside what they are so deeply inside.

And, it's not that they haven't considered many new ideas themselves - or that just any new idea from the outside works. No. The existing business owners have tried some new ideas, and thought about many more. And most of the new ideas brought by new entrants do not work any better than the new ideas of the existing businesses.

It's just that when a new idea does work well, it's most often, but not always, that it was brought by a new entrant to a market or industry.

Advantage <> Disadvantage

On the one hand, the existing businesses in an industry have some excellent advantages over potential newcomers.

On the other hand, the existing businesses in an industry have some serious disadvantages against potential newcomers.

On an overall industry basis, it's most often the newcomers who win; and the previously existing businesses have to scramble to adjust to see if they can survive instead of become too seriously marginalized.

On the individual-business basis, it all comes down to the details. Individual social recreational dance businesses have the possibility of seeing and capitalizing on the major opportunities, but whether they can actually do so depends on a lot of factors which I discuss in this presentation.

Keep in mind that my topic here is not the ability to accomplish mere survival through this period. It is instead the ability to take advantage of at least one of the several major opportunities that I say/see exist in the social recreational dance industry.

Many existing social recreational dance businesses will survive going forward; but only a few will thrive.

(Un)Changing Minds > The Bedrock of Decline & Stagnation

For existing social recreational dance business owners to have a chance at the major opportunities they would have to first change their minds about a lot of things. Since they/we are all human beings, this is not at all an easy thing to accomplish.

And the compounding issue that raises the level of difficulty way up there is that we actually think/assume that we have changed our minds when we really haven't. It's the way that we, as mammals are wired.

Changing your mind about some very important elements of social recreational dance businesses and the industry is both

• A Great Opportunity - accomplishing it has major potential payoffs
• A Great Challenge - changing one's own mind is a difficult thing to accomplish

What doing well & what not doing well

Among the things that existing social recreational dance business owners would have to change their minds about, in order to have a chance at the major opportunities, would be what they do do well and what they do not do well - and how those things relate to and impact how well they are doing currently in terms of results and outcomes in their business.

the more things they do do well
the better their outcomes will show how well they are doing 
the more things they do not do well
the better their outcomes will show how not-well they are doing

To do well
Do (things) well
To do well

Changing one's mind in the area of seeing what one is doing well and, especially, seeing and acknowledging what one is not doing well is perhaps both a necessary step in being able to see and take advantage of major opportunities, and also a possible magical gateway to them.

In seeing what one is not doing well and is doing well, one begins to see many other things beyond that. The view of the landscape changes. The realm of what's possible shifts.

To begin to examine what one is doing well and not so well, consider a list of work & skills needed in your social recreational dance business.