BUSINESS CONSISTENCY

Wealthier people often prefer light, cereal-based foods for breakfast or with tea. One example of this is cornflakes. Many varieties of cornflakes are available in the market. Several companies have produced them under different brand names and created various flavours. But in India, most of these attempts have not been very successful, despite heavy spending on advertising.

Currently, only two companies dominate the cornflakes market in India: Hindustan Vegetables Oils Corporation (HVOC) and Mohan Meakin Ltd. Together, they sell about one thousand tons of cornflakes every year, worth 35 million rupees. Interestingly, these companies do not spend anything at all on advertising. Their products sell without it. (The Times of India, June 9, 1990).

What explains this difference? The main reason is that the other companies had no history. They introduced one variety of cornflakes under a brand name, but when it failed, they quickly replaced it with another or abandoned the product altogether to try something else. In contrast, the two successful companies mentioned above have a 20-year history behind their product. For two decades, they have consistently produced the same type of cornflakes. This long history has made their product familiar and trusted in the eyes of the public. When someone wants cornflakes, the brand name is already in their mind, and they go to the market and buy what they know.

This is the true secret of business success. Consistency is an essential condition in business. If you keep starting and abandoning ventures, you will never succeed. But if you start a business and remain steadfast—refusing to quit despite difficulties—then after “20 years,” you will inevitably reach the next stage of success.