Was it time for Loan Bright to change markets?

When a company sets a strategy, should it be changed? Why? When?

The four men huffed and puffed their way up a steep hiking trail in the Rocky Mountains. Russell Straub urged them on. “Let’s go,” he called out. “Got to get that blood flowing!” The men were all top managers at Loan Bright, Straub’s online mortgage company, and they had gathered for a weeklong retreat at his home in Evergreen, Colorado, to make some The four men huffed and puffed their way up a steep hiking trail in the Rocky Mountains. Russell Straub urged them on. “Let’s go,” he called out. “Got to get that blood flowing!” The men were all top managers at Loan Bright, Straub’s online mortgage company, and they had gathered for a weeklong retreat at his home in Evergreen, Colorado, to make some former Inc. 500 company had stagnated. Straub was eager to kick-start it and thought he had the answer.
Straub had founded Loan Bright with two of his University of Vermont fraternity brothers in 1999. The idea was to connect mortgage lenders with potential home buyers. People seeking mortgages would visit the company’s website, CompareInterestRates.com.
After entering some basic information, they would get a list of lenders and available terms. Loan Bright, based in Evergreen, made money by selling that home-buyer data—including contact information, home value, and credit rating—to mortgage lenders, which handed them out as leads to their sales teams.
Loan Bright’s first customers tended to be small mortgage brokers eager for leads. But from the outset, the company aspired to move up the food chain and take on more lucrative clients. To Straub, the logic seemed impeccable: “Would you rather have a million customers paying you a dollar a month, or one paying you a million a month?” he asked himself.
By 2004, the company had successfully made the shift, with a dream list of fat clients including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Chase Manhattan Mortgages. And the strategy appeared to be paying off. Sales reached $4.5 million and the company came in at number 162 on the 2004 Inc. 500 list.