Like many of you, I have been watching the recent global news with interest around the announcement that the big US toy company, Toys ‘R’ Us, was forced to close many of its US stores after filing for bankruptcy, hoping to restructure and recover in the future. You would think that such a move signalled greater problems for the toy industry as a whole. And yet at the 115th North American International Toy Fair in NYC last month, an interesting trend was seen. The market was looking instead to nimble, small businesses to create new toys faster than the larger established corporations. For small niche companies, this increasingly more accessible global market means there are great opportunities to be explored. At the fair, small toy companies said it’s about having the right product, delivering it to market faster, and smart marketing. There’s a lot we can learn from this sector and apply it in our own business approaches to accessing new market opportunities.
Have yourself an inspired entrepreneurial day! - Melanie