Investment, when properly applied, creates wealth, and this wealth can facilitate further investment. You get the idea. The flip side of the coin, however, is what happens when there is a failure to invest?
The examples of this are legion, whether looking at countries, industries or individual companies. Failures to manage, to modernize and to invest can see the mighty fall very quickly.
We have seen big names in the poultry industry swallowed up by competitors that were able to produce more efficiently and so better serve the market. We will doubtlessly see this repeated over the years to come. It is far too easy, once you reach a position of strength, to be blind to the investment that is being implemented by competitors and how the distance between you and them is, little by little, closing.
Of course, any investment must be based on good information. It is all very well to decide on X or Y, but what are the alternatives? And even after researching alternatives, if a decision to invest in X or Y is stuck to, who would be the best supplier, who would offer the cheapest price and the most favorable terms? Must the purchase be sourced locally or might it better to source overseas?
One thing that is rarely lacking in today’s world is choice. Indentifying what’s available takes work, but at the end of the day, the more informed the decision, the better the result is likely to be. Knowledge is key.
In today’s globalized market, competition is all around us and gone are the days when cozy relationships existed with suppliers and customers. For good or for bad, most of us are free to switch who we work with at almost a moment’s notice.
And while this presents opportunities, it also presents risks and dangers. Unless, of course, you are the most efficient and successful in your field – just about the best, and perhaps the only, sustainable insulation you have against the headwinds of market forces. To achieve this, you must invest.
Across the pages of this year’s Who’s Who, there should be plenty of starting points for anyone considering investing. And don’t forget, our Who’s Who edition, like our other editions throughout the year, will remain available online at: www.WATTAgNet.com. While there, you might also like to visit our product database.
