At Vinexpo this June in France, will include a panel of experts discussing climate change and its effect on the wine industry. What should that mean to you and your local wine shop? [level-members]
On one hand, you could dismiss this as too macro an issue for you to even think about, and that’s not untrue. After all, there’s not a whole lot you can do to either combat climate change or debunk it, depending on your opinion of the situation.
And you could even say that not only is it too macro but it’s a non issue because even if they can’t grow grapes any more in, say, Napa and Oregon, there’s still the whole of Canada.
And that actually gets closer to the truth, and the broader considerations large-scale changes should have you considering.
Granted, big shifts tend not to happen overnight, even if they look that way from the perspective of history. (Buggy whip makers didn’t all close shop on the same day; but from the vantage point of 100 years later, give or take, they did disappear fast!)
And that’s what you want to guard against. If not climate change, then the incredible pace of change in the world of retail. The extreme uncertainty of our political climate – and there for the regulatory climate in our highly regulated industry.
Changes may ultimately be good, but they’re nearly always accompanied by some pain, particularly for those who are unprepared.
So don’t dismiss the macro events – the front-page news – as too large for you to need to think about. Worrying won’t do you any good, but neither will burying your head in the sand. Pay attention, make a plan, even it seems fanciful. Doing so may even have short-term benefits if thinking about your business in a new light generates creative business ideas.
[/level-members]