Fighting to stay ahead with the pack

[golok]

The knife business is a serious business. Everybody knows that. What few people know is how little it takes to put a company out of business.

The fact that turbulent economic clouds loom over the horizon is not such a big secret.

How do knife companies propose to stay afloat amid such troubled signs?

Bringing down the costs can mean bigger volumes in sales, provided there are winning designs.

Collectors are getting too discerning for comfort. Knife users and enthusiasts are demanding quality blades which are also affordable.
When good knives come with high prices, the attraction factor loses its glitter fast.

Then there is the overseas competition factor. Cheaper knives are being produced from certain parts of the world. It would be foolhardly to ignore your most dangerous rivals.

The buzzwords in this competitive industry would probably be Quality, Affordability and Design.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[rev_jch]

I think you put well!!!

 

[92degrees]

You omitted marketing. There have been many fine knives and good companies that have fallen by the wayside for ignoring the need to make people aware of what is available.

 

[Ming65]

Perception is everything. The commercial world is full of stories about inferior products that outsold superior ones on the strength of their marketing (anyone remember Beta?)

But there is always a niche for quality because some consumers are descerning and informed. Because of this quality is mostly recession proof.

I thought that with the internet, the proportion of informed and discerning customers would increase due to more easily obtained information - such as what happens on these forums where no amount of hype can beat peoples honest opinions and real world experiences. However I suspect that this hasn't hapenned with most products.

Instead it's just easier to reach the amount of discerning people that are out there. People who are easily fooled by hype still aren't accessing quality information, even though nowadays it is right in front of them.

This may not be the case in every industry - just mine. I'd be interested to see what other people think - especially in the case of the knife industry.