Be quicker, get farther!

The old joke can especially be applied as a relevant fable in this situation:

 „Three shoe merchants opened a store directly next to each other.
Having seen this, the owner of the right hand shop wrote the following message on the store window: Wide assortment!
The left hand shopkeeper also took courage, and sent the following message towards the street through the store window: Low prices!  The middle merchant was thinking for a while, then hung out the following short label on the door: Entrance! „

Of course, reality is rarely so simple, but the above-mentioned conclusion comes through in every case.
The market of property estates and the building material industry reached such depths in the last year, that it probably needs more than an outhanging board on the entrance door. The problem is that only a few people visit the shop.
The market of newly built -up estates have almost collapsed, the number of orders for this year looks even worse.
However, as the fable says – guided by a good idea, we can almost get out of every inconvenient situations. 

For instance, on the property market has turned out, that people prefer modernizing their extant estates, instead of buying new ones. In this way, they practically „kill two birds with one stone.” The value of the estate is increasing and after the renovation it can be sold more expensively.
Through the modernization -if the owner invested wisely- the overheads can significantly be reduced.
Moreover, if the owner is blessed with some manual skills, then he can fulfill certain tasks on his own, saving the expenses of a technician.

If the broadening market of renovations is considered as an opportunity-and in this narrowing latitude it can overly be considered as one -the path is almost given which you have to take.

At this time, the company which produces building materials, concentrates obviously more on the market of those products which are needed during renovational works. These are for example, the additional thermal insulations of facades and other products which are in connection with renovation. 
During this time the company holds back the producing of those products which can be related to new buildings, and it develops such products which fit better to the DIY spirit, than the former ones.

Of course, the producing capacity of the appropriate products can easily limit the opportunities of expansion.
Deriving from their carefullness, only a few companies start forestalling, even if they could finance it.
However, the almost one-century old imperative can result winner position in this situation also: „Buy, when everyone else sells!”
Well, if our company has some saved funds, than it is worth to look around among the cheaply available targets -even if they are beyond the country.

By doing this, we can not only increase our extant capacities, but we can also acquire new markets.
Moreover! As the crisis had different effects on the estate market in the surrounding countries, if we act deliberately, we can join to a more forceful yonder prosperity as a producer.
However, whether this is the situation or not, we can surely start the rising up after the crisis from a more favourable position, than our rivals.

Beside the steps mentioned just now, of course, we should not forget about the classical roles. We should not leave out of consideration the possibility of the expansion of partners and the expansion of services granted through them.
If we can offer more, or in an easier way, more people will find us in contempt of the narrow demand.
All in all, there is no simple, general recipe for the crisis, but if we are able to measure the situation, have enough courage and take the right steps, than the crisis is nothing else, just an one-time market opportunity, which we can benefit from. After this, we have no other task, just to hang out the board to our door: „Entrance!”

The author is the CEO of Masterplast Ltd. David Tibor

Further information:
Masterplast Group Private Company Limited by Shares

H-8143 Sarszentmihaly, Arpad u. 1/A

Tel.: +36-22-801-300

Fax.: +36-22-801-382

E-mail: masterplast@masterplast.hu