CVS stopped selling smokes? This is a bold move. It has been said they will lose $2 Billion (with a B) in revenues, Now they made $123 billion in revenues in 2012 so maybe $2 billion will not be missed. But in a business where you answer to shareholders every penny counts. What I see in this story is a company following their hedgehog concept.
The Hedgehog concept comes from an amazing book called: Good to Great by Jim Collins. Your hedgehog concept comes together when you find the common ground between three questions: What are you deeply passionate about? What can you be the best in the world at? What drives your economic engine? A hedgehog concept breaks down as depicted here: 
CVS’s hedgehog concept is selling products that make people healthy. Selling tobacco products is glaringly contrary to that concept. I applaud CVS for making the bold move to stop selling a profitable item because it dose not fit with their mission or hedgehog concept. The next question that comes to mind for me is: How far will they go? Will they stop selling soda, alcohol, or candy? I don’t imagine they will but what would be the next appropriate step? Related note: CVS released a new logo to correspond with this change.
What is your hedgehog concept? What are you deeply passionate about? What can you be the best in the world at? What drives your economic engine? Figuring this out will help you make decisions that will help grow your business in the long run and avoid bad short term decisions. Also check out Good to Great it has the potential to change your business life!
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