"Just as a person is born, grows, matures, and eventually experiences decline and ultimately death, so too do industries and product lines."
Declines are almost inevitable in an industry. If product innovation has not kept pace with other competing products and/or service, or if new innovations or technological changes have caused the industry to become obsolete, sales suffer and the life cycle experiences a decline. In this phase, sales are decreasing at an accelerating rate.... Mergers and consolidations will also be the norm as firms try other strategies to continue to be competitive or grow through acquisition and/or diversification. Does the following sound familiar? "...Management efficiency can help to prolong the maturity stage of the life cycle. Production improvements, like just-in-time methods and lean manufacturing, can result in extra profits. Technology, automation, and linking suppliers and customers in a tight supply chain are also methods to improve efficiency." WFM is teetering on the edge of stages 6 #6 End of life Maturity and #7 Exit. "This is the [biggest] opportunity for your business to cash out on all the effort and years of hard work. Or it can mean shutting down the business." Since the latter is not an option, we all need to prepare for acquisition.