--- title: Five Years From Now description: How commoditized was that part of your business five years ago? My bet is that your commodity today was an absolute home run five years ago – if it even existed back then. --- ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner ![Award Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%203.png) Award Winning, Amazon #1 Bestseller: The Revenue Acceleration Framework ![Lift Logo](https://www.liftenablement.com/hubfs/raw_assets/public/Lift-Theme-Dev/images/LiftEnablement%20-%20Logo%20-%20Reverse%20(2).png) HubSpot's Most Trusted Partner for Complex Implementations ![HubSpot Certified Badge](https://49161231.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/49161231/image%204%20(2).png) HubSpot Certified App Partner # Five Years From Now [ Doug Davidoff ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/author/doug-davidoff) Aug 17, 2010 5:54:58 AM Think about your typical customer using your typical product/service. And I mean typical – the customer and the offering that is at the center of the commodity part of your business. What is it that they’re getting? Why are they buying it? How commoditized was that part of your business five years ago? My bet is that  your commodity today was an absolute home run five years ago – if it even existed back then. Now think about your home run today. Where will it be on the commoditization spectrum five years from now? Probably obsolete. The dominant strategic question in every CEO’s mind should be: *Why is it that people will be buying from us in 5 years? * Take a moment and ponder that question. Now, what are you doing today to pave the way for that future? Remember, your profits today are the **result** of you efforts from the past – and your profits *tomorrow* will be directly tied to the actions you take between now and then. Don’t get lost in the answer to this question. The reality is that it’s virtually impossible to have any idea what we’ll be doing in 5 years or what our customers may need. But, the focus of 5 years is important because it forces you to break out of your company’s comfort zone and to prevent you from becoming complacent. It is the job of the vast majority of the people in your company to maximize the results of your current business – it’s your job to figure out what that will be in the future. [B2B Sales Strategy](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/b2b-sales-strategy), [Demand Generation](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/topic/demand-generation) ## Read On ### [It's Never Too Late](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/its-never-too-late) I was speaking to a great group of CEOs in Eau Claire today. Two-thirds through my presentation,... [![](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-358796649-jpg/blog-files/right_price.jpg?width=352&name=right_price.jpg) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/another-word-for-solution) ### [Another Word For Solution](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/another-word-for-solution) Do you want to know another word for solution? It's commodity. That's right, any time your focusing... [![](https://www.liftenablement.com/hs-fs/file-359959883-jpg/blog-files/four-seasons-logo-300x150.jpg?width=352&name=four-seasons-logo-300x150.jpg) ](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/defining-a-remarkable-customer-experience) ### [Defining a Remarkable Customer Experience](https://www.liftenablement.com/blog/defining-a-remarkable-customer-experience) The post below originally appeared as two different posts in 2005. Yesterday I was having a...