Brandon Frere: CEOs Must Stay Alive to Opportunity and Be Willing to Leap

Silhouette of a Person Leaping Over a Gap

Shifting focus for a business can be a necessity or a way to expand. Either way, CEOs should be open to capitalizing on accumulated assets to leap into other markets. A famous example is Odeo, an early podcast streaming service that was muscled out of the market by iTunes. Rather than fold up shop, Odeo decided to shift its assets to build a messaging service limited to 140 characters called Twitter. CEO Brandon Frere of Frere Enterprises and other ventures believes in continuing to stay alive to the possibilities and opportunities to keep a business dynamic and thriving.

“Leaping to another industry is no small undertaking,” said Frere, “but CEOs have to remain on the lookout for opportunities. Whether a company is leveraged out of its niche by a bigger player or you come across a market possibility that is too good to pass up, CEOs must be agile and daring enough to make the right move at the right time.”

Leaping to another industry is no small undertaking but CEOs have to remain on the lookout for opportunities.

Brandon Frere, CEO of Frere Enterprises

Some shifts occur because a company cannot find the service or product they need and end up having to create a solution for that challenge. For example, a company that sold snowboarding equipment online was unable to find a shopping cart solution for their website, so it built a solution. That innovation became the origin of Shopify.

Other shifts occur when companies look beyond the daily grind to bring their products to market and look at possible vertical expansions into untapped end-user or sourcing spaces. CEOs need to have keen vision to know where their industry is heading so they can make judgments about whether a jump is necessary. With 16 percent of its revenue generated by late fees, Blockbuster stayed fixated on its business model as Netflix flew past.

Another inspiration for a shift is to dive into, or get input from experts in, completely different fields. Famously, Steve Jobs found that learning calligraphy taught him the elegant power of design, which inspired his high regard for user experience. Though it is impossible to say what will inspire a breakthrough product or service, it is crucial for CEOs to remain open and curious to the wide world beyond its walls.

“Whether you’re moving into a new space because you have to or because you happened upon a solution for a need no one knew they had,” said Frere, “it is important to stay open and curious and have a willingness to make the leap when it’s time.” 

About Brandon Frere

Brandon Frere is an entrepreneur and businessman who lives in Sonoma County, California. He has designed and created multiple companies to meet the ever-demanding needs of businesses and consumers alike. His website, www.BrandonFrere.com, is used as a means of communicating many of the lessons, fundamentals and information that he has learned throughout his extensive business and personal endeavors, most recently in advocating on behalf of student loan borrowers nationwide.

As experienced during his own student loan repayment, Mr. Frere found out how difficult it can be to work with federally contracted student loan servicers and the repayment programs designed to help borrowers. Through those efforts, he gained an insider’s look into the repayment process and the motivations behind the inflating student loan debt bubble. His knowledge of the often confusing landscape of student loan repayment became a vital theme in his future endeavors, and he now uses those experiences to help guide others through the daunting process of applying for available federal repayment and loan forgiveness programs.

BrandonFrere.com

Source: Brandon Frere

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