Competitive Advantage

Why is Corporate Strategy Important?

It is common to find many senior leaders questioning the importance of having a Corporate Strategy. They question how practical it is to their current business and question the value it will create if they invest the time and resources required to develop and execute a Corporate Strategy.

This article will shed light on What a Corporate Strategy is, Why it is Important, and provide insights on How to execute a Corporate Strategy “Fit for the Purpose” of your Business.

“What is Corporate Strategy? Why it Corporate Strategy Important? How to execute a Corporate Strategy Fit for the Purpose of your business?”

What is Corporate Strategy?

In its most simple term, a Corporate Strategy is the Details and Specifics surrounding the Business’s Ultimate Goal, its “North Star”, its “Overarching Goal”; essentially, it is ultimately what the “Business wants to Accomplish”. It is more than ambitious statements citing a Vision or Mission that sounds great. It is the statements that inspire and guide the entire company’s actions.

There are many different formal and informal “versions” of a Company’s Corporate Strategy, “Fit for Purpose” acceptable Corporate Strategy could include:

  • The Business Vision & Mission, or
  • The Business Purpose Statement, or
  • The Business Value Proposition, or
  • The Founder’s Vision for creating the Business, or
  • The Leader’s Goal – what they would like to accomplish, or
  • The Business perceived Competitive Advantage and how they intend to win in the marketplace, or
  • Simply, the difference the founder wants to make through the Business;

each of which, provides management with guidance to ensure that they are optimizing their resources toward the same ultimate goals as their peers.

The Business Vision & Mission, or Purpose, are the formal versions of a Company’s Corporate Strategy, from which its Values, Value Proposition, Competitive Advantage, and Company’s Corporate & Annual Goals are defined. Goals designed to achieve the Company’s Corporate Strategy. While the last four are not officially formal Corporate Strategies, they each serve the objective of a Corporate Strategy by guiding the leadership of the Business toward common goals.

Reference: See our book, “Leadership Processes, elevating Critical & Strategic Thinking“, for our proprietary Leadership Process detailing how to unpack a Business Corporate Strategy, extracting actionable yet relevant strategies; business leaders can rally around as they aspire to achieve the Business’s Corporate Strategy. Check our product page for more detail.

Let’s look at each component of the Corporate Strategy in more detail.

The Business’s Vision Statement

The Business Vision Statement communicates the “Aspirational Goals” for the business.

The Business Vision Statement communicates the “Aspirational Goals” for the Business. Because the Vision Statement is aspirational, it is by nature non-specific. It is deliberately designed to be left open for leadership’s creative interpretations while being flexible to remain relevant despite forecasted changes in the micro and macro environment, simultaneously setting the overall direction for the Business.

Apple’s Vision Statement 2023: To make the best products on earth and to leave the world better than we found it.

Amazon Vision Statement: “To be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” 

The leadership at both Apple and Amazon can interpret the Company’s Vision Statement to determine precisely what each phrase means. Apple left its Vision open to venture into any product area as long as it fits the “best product” criteria while executing the Business’s operations with ESG consideration. On the other hand, Amazon set clear guidelines for its leadership to create the most customer-centric company that can sell anything online. 

The Business’s Mission Statement

Mission Statement primarily communicates what the business does and for whom.

The Company’s Mission Statement cites more achievable, shorter-term tangible goals the Business can pursue that are aligned with its Vision Statement. It primarily communicates what the Business does and for whom. While there are more complex structures of a Mission Statement encapsulating more details of the Business, the two key characteristics of a Mission Statement are to define what the Business does and for whom.

Apple’s Mission Statement:bringing the best user experience to its customers through its innovative hardware, software, and services.”

Amazon Mission Statement:We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.”

Apple’s Mission statement states clearly that Apple provides innovative hardware, software and services in their products for users who appreciate a good user experience, while Amazon’s Mission statement states that Amazon’s desire to make shopping online on their platform convenient while providing a wide variety of products at the lowest possible prices. Both Apple nor Amazon state in their Mission Statements the specific products or services provided, only what their customers can look forward to.

Apple promises innovative products and excellent user experience, and Amazon promises convenient shopping with the widest variety of products at the lowest possible price.

The Business’s Purpose Statement

The Purpose Statement communicates “Why” a business exists and how its products and services benefit their customers.

It’s a general observation that a business either has a Vision-Mission driven Corporate Strategy or a Purpose driven Corporate Strategy. The differentiating factors determining whether a company is Vision-Mission-driven or Purpose-driven often are 1: The Complexity of the Business and 2: The Persona of the Business.

The Structure of the Organization combined with its Operating Model and type of services provided often dictates whether a business will have a Vision-Mission Corporate Structure or a Purpose driven Corporate Strategy.

Apple and Amazon are often perceived as unreachable by their customer base, who do not need an intimate relationship with the company to reap the full benefits of their goods and services, while Insurance type companies often rely on a more personal connection with their customers to provide excellent services; resulting in Insurance companies opting for a Purpose driven Corporate Strategy.

Allstate Purpose Statement: We help customers realize their hopes and dreams by providing the best products and services to protect them from life’s uncertainties and prepare them for the future.

When planning the Business Corporate Strategy, most Small and Medium size businesses will benefit from a more straightforward Purpose Statement Corporate Strategy; it communicates to the staff and target market what the Business is and who it serves and provides ample information for the target customer to connect with the Business.

Whereas more complex organisations will want to evaluate the pros and cons of each structure before determining which format best fits the needs of the Business.

Corporate Strategy Details

Having established that the Business Corporate Strategy is either Vision-Mission-driven or Purpose-driven, clearly stating what the Business wants to accomplish, what it does and who it serves. The next step is translating the Business’s Corporate Strategy into smaller tangible goals, objectives and actions the Business can execute.

Think of it like this. The Business Corporate Strategy is the destination the Business is hoping to arrive at, why it needs to get to that destination, and the mode of transport it will use to arrive at its destination.

The Corporate Strategy Details – the Values, Value Proposition and Competitive Advantage – are the details necessary for the Business operators to work in lockstep to achieve its Corporate Strategy. Think of it like this; the details are the plannedrequiredcessary for the Business to get to its final destination as efficiently as possible, with the best possible experience for itself and its customers, while building trust and loyalty throughout the journey.

Values

Values are essential because values set expectations for the quality of the experience for staff and customers with every business transaction.

Theoretically, “Values” define how employees ought to behave in the daily execution of their duties and are the building blocks of the Company’s Culture.

Practically, “Company’s Culture” is the sum total of the collective behaviours of the workforce, whether the behaviours are sanctioned or not by management.

Realistically, “Values” listed in the Company’s Corporate Strategy alone do not determine Company’s “Culture” and often, in reality, the Company’s Culture is not a reflection of the Company’s Values.

Brand:

 

The Company’s Brand is a reflection of the general public’s judgement. It’s a “sum-total” of how the staff and customers feel about their interaction with the company.

Theoretically, “Brand” is the image the Business wishes to create for the public.

In Practice, “Brand” is the Public Image the Business has because of the experience its staff and customers collectively form based on their experiences with the Business.

Realistically brand isn’t determined by a branding exercise. A branding exercise will shed light on what Brand the company should curate, with insights on how to create the desired image. However, the Company’s Brand is formed by how well the operators of the business behaviours are aligned with the image it wants to project.

The reality is most businesses’ Planned Brands, and their Actual Brand are not aligned.

Value Proposition:

Theoretically, “Value Proposition” is the value leadership want the business goods and services to create for its customers.

In Practice, “Value Proposition” is the perceived value gained by the customer from the consumption of the business goods and services.

Realistically, the “Value Proposed” and the “Value Gained” often differ for most businesses, with the Business overestimating the value created and the customers underestimating the value gained. It is advisable for the Business to frequently seek and evaluate customer feedback to determine its true value proposition, incorporating relevant insights into the creation, delivery and follow-up of its goods and services.

Competitive Advantage: 

Competitive Advantage is lessening its importance in business management primarily because it’s seen as extremely difficult to develop and execute, while the changes in technology and the economy make the information relatively obsolete relatively fast; there is little incentive for Businesses to invest the time and money to develop, and even less incentive for Small and Medium Size businesses. However, for a business to thrive and grow, it must manage a fit-for-purpose Competitive Advantage.

Theoretically, “Competitive Advantage” is how the Business differentiates itself from the competitors in a way that is more appealing to its customers than the competitors.

In Practice, “Competitive Advantage” is constructed by most using “Quality”, “Service”, “Price”, “Technology”, “Access”, and “Product” to create an offering that will win more often than the competitors.

Realistically, “Competitive Advantage” influences the target customer to believe that your products and service are more valuable than the alternatives available.

Corporate Strategy in Perspective:

The Vision – Defines Aspirational Goals the Business can eventually achieve.

The Mission or Purpose – Defines Practical Immediate Goals the Business can accomplish given its resources.

The Corporate Strategy Details – Defines the Strategies, Plans and Specific Details of how the Business will behave and operate to achieve its Mission or Purpose.

Why is Corporate Strategy Important?

In a nutshell, a business without a Corporate Strategy is synonymous with a Taxi driving without a destination.

Businesses, especially Small and Medium size businesses operate under the impression that as long as they are making money, they are doing ok; however, once the initial momentum has been exhausted, the Business begins to experience problems, and if nothing is done to solve the underlying problem correctly, it starts to decline.

The fallacy most businesses make is, believing that once a business begins to struggle, the solution is business process improvement, systems or tools, which rarely works. Why? Because any product, systems and tools layered upon inefficiencies will not resolve the underlying problem, only temporarily mask it resulting in the problems resurfacing only to frustrate management.

Dire Problem: I worked with a medium size organization citing dire problems with Professional Services, Product Development and Sales, a tangled web of weekly battles on whose fault it was that affected Sales. Product Development was forced to re-prioritize and modify its product roadmap, while Professional Services struggled to deliver on the promises made by Sales. A recurring nightmare. The Difficult Problems Leadership weren’t able to solve suddenly assigned to me. Problems that were blamed for the losses incurred monthly. Problems the traditional solutions failed to resolve.

The Solution: Clarity of the Business Corporate Strategy with relevant Corporate Strategy Details and a pivot of the Business In-Year Strategy, so the Business can resolve the root cause of the problems while redirecting its effort to focus on other revenue-generating opportunities. Only then did things truly turn around, and the Business was now able to move forward with its growth and value accretion plans.

Note: It is important to recognize that in addition to having a Corporate Strategy and the Corporate Strategy Details, EXECUTION is Key! And Execution is in the Business’s Operating Advantage, Operating Values, and Culture impact on its Brand. Reach out to us to learn more about Operating Advantages, Operating Values and Culture Impact on the Brand.

How to Start a “Fit for Purpose” Corporate Strategy?

Operating Business often falls into one of the following categories:

  • A functioning Corporate Strategy, or
  • An Ignored Corporate Strategy, or
  • A Dated Corporate Strategy, or
  • An Irrelevant Corporate Strategy, or
  • An Idea of what the Corporate Strategy is, or
  • A Wishful Idea of what the Business wants to do or achieve, or
  • No Corporate Strategy.

The challenge is for you, the leader, to determine if it is a Goal you can move forward with. Then develop the details to support the achievement of that goal. Then validate the Business’s ability to execute the activities necessary to achieve that goal.

If, however, you are either unclear as to what the Business’s Corporate Strategy is, or whether the Business Operations are strategically aligned with its written Corporate Strategy, or how to begin solving the Business’s dire problems. Start with gaining some clarity on why the Business exists and how it intends to serve its customers and ensure that you ask all the difficult questions.

Once you have clarity, communicate first to the team, then to the rest of the Business and be open to feedback on whether it’s feasible. Work through the Corporate Strategy Details and Execute!

With clarity on the Business’s Corporate Strategy and the details communicated concisely to the Business, you will begin receiving insights from your actions, decision and subordinates on where the daily activities of the business conflict with the Corporate Strategy; valuable Insights and Information you can then act on.

An idea without execution is only an idea that soon fades and dies. The same is true for a Business without a Corporate Strategy. The Business will ultimately be pulled into conflicting directions, consumed with how best to allocate its limited resources.

A simple test you can do today to help determine if the Business has an effective Corporate Strategy is to ask. Ask your leader, managers or supervisors what the business Goal is. If they are uncertain, then follow.

  1. Apply the insights provided in How to Start above, or
  2. Get our book Leadership Processes, elevating Critical & Strategic Thinking, and it will give the Leadership Process to develop a Corporate Strategy, or
  3. Contact Us, and we will help.

Final Thought: Having a Corporate Strategy (Goals) people understand is a sign that you are in control. At the same time, not having an active Corporate Strategy is a signal that the Business is reactive to the circumstances of the environment; they are being led, not leading. We understand that a business strives when the circumstances are favourable – getting lucky, and struggles when the circumstances are unfavourable. However, it is important never to take your business luck for granted; ensure that it is supported by a Corporate Strategy that serves as a lighthouse in periods of uncertainty. And DO NOT risk your Business on chances because regardless of the circumstances, with Strategic Management, you can create your own favourable circumstances.

Be Strategic! Nallanie Manick

Practical Competitive Advantage for SMBs

Introduction.

When we think about Competitive Advantage; we automatically think of Michael Porter, Market Research, TAM, SWOT, Five Forces, Competitive Analysis; or some intensive, expensive project only a few or large organizations can afford. Projects that are both intimidating and overwhelming for SMBs – small-and-medium size businesses.

Competitive Advantage can be intimidating and overwhelming for SMBs.

This article dives into a Practical Competitive Advantage Solution specifically for SMBs.

As Founders, Entrepreneurs, when we start a business, we start it with a certain Dream or Vision in mind. Something fundamental we would like to achieve through the business. Then as time passes and we get caught up in the day-to-day struggles; fighting to win that customer, competing against the competitors, building a team, and adjusting so we can keep up with the changes in the environment; our Dream or Vision fades. The Vision fades because, during the Survival Stage of the business, SMBs are forced to choose between pursuing their Vision and pursuing Sales, meaning going where the money is—an obvious decision for SMBs in survival mode.

Steve Jobs – iDownloadBlog

This struggle isn’t unique to just SMBs. It is present in all businesses with very few exceptions. Even large organizations like Apple struggled in the first decade of its existence to decide how best to achieve its ‘Founding’ Vision while deciding on how best to operate the business to gain a Competitive Advantage—resulting in Apple losing sight of its Vision over time, due to the compounded effect of None Strategically Coherent Competitive decision.

By 1997, Apple Inc., having gone out of sync with its Vision, resulted in the Historical Pivotal Point in Apple’s History. Despite being advised against it, Steve Jobs made the well-debated decision to cut over 70% of Apple Product lines, streamlining its Product and Operations in line with Apple’s Founding Vision.

Since this decision, the Pivotal Point in Apple’s History, Setting a Strategically Coherent Operating Mandatory Precedence for Apple moving forward, it can be argued that this was the reason behind Apple’s success and why Apple is “The World Most Valuable Company today – 2022.”

Capacity to Execute.

An Organization Capacity to Execute resides in the Leaders’ resourcefulness. Resourcefulness in utilizing the business’s resources to execute Competitive Advantage Strategies to win in the market. To win against the competitors. Not all businesses are created equally, and regardless of a business’s size and resources, all businesses have limitations that constrain business competitiveness in one way or another. Limitations such as:

  1. Leadership Capabilities,
  2. Staff Skillset,
  3. Organization Access to Funding or Money to pursue Competitive Advantage Strategies,
  4. The Market Access,
  5. Environmental / Governmental Factors,
  6. Technology.

Despite the constraints and limitations constricting the business, leaders are responsible for making the best decision for the business, Strategically Coherent Competitive Decision which; Hopefully the Business is Able and Equipped to Execute. The reality is that Leaders are often juggling multiple competing priorities, assessing Opportunity Cost, Cost- Benefits, and Prioritizing what can be compromised without compromising the business’s overall health.

Often, it leads to making decisions with Limited Insights, Limited Knowledge of its Limitations and Constraints, resulting in decisions that the Business may not necessarily have the Capacity to Execute. When the Business’s Capacity to Execute is overestimated, and the business decides to pursue Competitive Advantage Initiatives, it does not have the Capacity to Execute. The business is forced to reassign valuable resources from its Priorities to Initiatives of Lesser Importance. Compromising the Business in one way or another, which, when compounded over time, widens the Strategic Gap and erodes the Business’s Competitive Advantage.

Competitive Advantage.

In today’s ever-evolving environment, Leaders are shifting the conversation from Complex Competitive Advantage to; the more manageable Value Proposition. Given that Value Proposition is only a small subset of Competitive Advantage, Value Proposition should not be considered by any means necessary a comprehensive Competitive Advantage Strategy. Also, it is important to note that the more resources and capabilities organizations have, the more comprehensive their Value Proposition or Competitive Advantage Strategies will be.

Technology Disruption is another factor that justifies the shift from Competitive Advantage Strategy to the more economical Value Proposition Strategy. It only makes sense that given the fast pace with which technology is changing the competitive landscape, businesses have opted to NOT invest significant time and money just to develop short-lived strategies.

However, Businesses and SMBs do not have to compromise the business Competitive Advantage, but instead SMBs can adapt their Strategy from executing the Traditional Competitive Advantage Strategy to executing a more Modern Competitive Advantage Strategy.

Modern Competitive Advantage.

Modern Competitive Advantage is a shift in Competitive Advantage Strategy to one that is Executable, Flexible, and Adaptable to the changes in the micro-and-macro environments. Modern Competitive Advantage comprises

  1. Fuelling your Target Market with Immediate Gratification, while
  2. Fuelling the Business with Insights to Develop and Maintain Relevance in the Market, and
  3. Taking Decisive Action.
Fuelling your Target Market with Immediate Gratification.

To Fuel your Target Market with Immediate Gratification means to serve your Current Customers so they experience feelings of Gratitude towards the SMB or Appreciation for the Products/Services purchased. This strategy is based on the fact that everyone loves Recognition and to be Appreciated. This is true regardless of their job, status or position. I have worked in many organizations, and the best and most influential strategy is to genuinely recognize people for their contribution. To Appreciate Their Effort. To Demonstrate Gratitude for their Patronage.

However, it is critical that the strategy you adopt to Fuel your Target Market with Immediate Gratification; is genuine, not fabricated or does not come across as manipulative or disingenuous. If your customer walks away feeling manipulated, it will have the opposite effect, thereby creating a Competitive Disadvantage for the business.

Say My Name.

“Say My Name” is a perfect example of how Starbucks Fuel its Target Market with Immediate Gratitude.

Starbucks appeals to what is most important to a person, their name. With every order, the Starbucks representative is trained to gleefully request the customer’s name for the order, then repeat their name to ensure that they got it right. An act which immediately triggers a feeling of importance in the customer, a sense of being recognized in the most fundamental way; by their name.

The psychology behind this strategy is quite simple, within three seconds or less, the customer went from being unknown to someone with a Name, the Best Name, their Name! This simple act of actively acknowledging someone’s name appeals to the person’s sense of importance, their identity; leaving them with a feel-good feeling. Someone whom people in the immediate vicinity now know by name. Genius, isn’t it? Most people cannot walk away from this experience without feeling a few inches taller.

Now compare the Starbucks ordering experience with that of other Coffee Shops, where the person behind the counter asks what they want, sometimes repeating their order to confirm that they got the order correctly, followed immediately with the price of the order. Regardless of the level of service, the courtesy of the person behind the counter, or the quality of coffee, the Starbucks experience is by far superior to that of the other Coffee Shops; simply because it is personal to the patron.

What is even more impressive with the Starbucks Strategy is that it COST Nothing and is SIMPLE and EASY to Execute. There is no additional training required, no additional material required, and no significant delays to sales turnaround. It can even be argued that it could potentially slow down the line; however, it can also be argued if it slowed down the line, based on the experience and the Starbucks ambiance, the slowed-down line is not noticeable to impact the patrons’ experience.

The Gift.

The Gift is another Common Strategy Organizations use to create a sense of immediate gratification in their customers for their patronage. Recently I had to change my eyeglasses because one night after working on my bed, I rested my glasses on the case with the handles hanging out and managed to accidentally slam shut the case on the handle, damaging the frame. This is my fourth purchase of eyeglasses but my first Appreciative Experience. In all my other experiences, I felt rushed, as if I was at the mercy of the salesperson, and the business rules and regulation designed to make their customers uncomfortable. I left my previous Optometrist feeling slightly deflated, a few hundred dollars short, and a piece of paper to come back within the next few weeks to collect my eyeglasses.

In my last purchase from Optical Connection, the minute I walked in I was greeted by a well-dressed individual eager to serve me, while the entire visit was engaging and attentive to my needs when I walked out, even though a few hundred short with a piece of paper to collect my eyeglasses within the next two weeks, I also walked out with a brown paper gift bag containing items to help me take care of my new eyeglasses. No glasses but a pleasant appreciative experience. Did I feel Gratitude? Most definitely. I was so pleased with Optical Connection service, I decided to move my family over to their practice and tell anyone willing to listen of their exceptional service and Free Gifts.

Fuelling the Business with Insights to Develop and Maintain Relevance in the Market.

An Organization Competitive Advantage Relevance is the business’s ability to continuously improve its Products & Services while evolving the business to continue to survive in the Ever-Changing Competitive Environment.

Traditional management thinking led us to believe that in order for SMBs to transition to a high-performing competitive company, SMBs needed to invest in some expensive transformative project. A project studying the market, identifying what wins and then investing in the People, Resources, Tools, Systems, and/or Partnerships before they can effectively compete. This is not necessarily the case. SMBs can shift their management practice to one which builds insights while executing Small Impactful Strategic yet Competitive Actions that are designed to win customers over while strengthening the organization to win in the short-, and medium; and positioning the business to win in the long term; By Shifting to a Competitive Advantage Management Practice.

A Competitive Advantage Management Practice achieves two things:

  1. The business adopts a Listening, Learning and Serving Management Practice.
    • The leadership Listens to the feedback from their Staff, Competitors and Customers,
    • The Leadership Learns from Past Experience, and
    • The Leadership adopts a Service Mentality. Serving the needs of their Customers and Staff.
  2. Management makes continuous Micro-Competitive Improvements to its business.
    • The Listening, Learning and Servicing Operating Practice unveils Valuable Competitive Insights that signal exactly what the business must do to be more competitive while staying on its Strategic Path.

Effectively, SMBs cannot compete the way larger organization competes; they lack the capabilities, resources and access available to larger organizations. SMBs must think Economically Strategic, Stay True to their Vision and be willing to Serve at a Higher Level than their competitors are willing to serve.

Taking Decisive Action.

The Harsh Reality is that Businesses that Struggles, more likely than not, Struggles NOT with Strategies but, WITH Execution.

There is an avalanche of reasons why, and often it is not a lack of resources or capabilities but, the perseverance and determination to take Decisive Action. Taking action in the face of uncertainty and taking the next right step.

In my expert opinion, this is often because SMBs are competing in an aggressive and ever-changing environment where information is limited, and SMBs are forced to make decisions littered with uncertainty. A deterrent that causes less risk-averse leaders to hesitate, to procrastinate until they are more assured of their actions. Some assurance that their efforts will lead to some level of desired results, missing out on the opportunity in the process. What is the saying?

“The Early Bird catches the Worm”, the SMB that acts first is more likely to win than the SMB that is waiting for guarantees.

SMBs are interested in becoming more competitive; to Develop & Maintain a Sustainable Competitive Advantage; Listen, Learn, Serve and Take Decisive Actions, making micro-competitive transformational changes to the business. So, the business Products & Services Wows, Wins and continues to Win in an Ever-Changing Competitive Market.

SMBs Capacity to Execute.

It is important at this time to differentiate SMBs’ Capacity to Execute a Sustainable Competitive Advantage from that of larger organizations with the resources, to invest in the relevant Management and Strategy Consulting services to develop a Comprehensive Competitive Advantage Strategy it can execute.

Our recommendation for SMBs and any organization interested in effecting change is to Start with the Organization’s Capacity to Execute. All businesses, regardless of their size are limited in one way or another, and because of this fact, have restrictions that affect the Organization’s Capacity to Execute. An Adaptable, Flexible, Economical Strategy any business can utilize is to Start with Intentionality. The intentions to:

  1. To Understand the SMB Limitations & Constraints,
  2. To Understand the SMB’s Capacity to Execute,
  3. To Develop a Competitive Advantage Management Practice, and
  4. To Take Decisive Action.

Intentionality comes when the Leadership considers all elements of their Unique Business while focusing on Purposely Developing and Leading a Competitive Business.

Practical Competitive Advantage.

The saying Go Big or Go Home is a convenience only few can afford.

Competitive Advantage Strategies that are based on an intensive study of the business, industry, its trends, competitors, new entrants etc. are all great, but not practical for most SMBs. What is top of mind for most SMBs is survival. How to manage the business to make a profit, retain customers and if they are lucky increase sales. A business, whether an SMB or larger. If the business is consumed with its survival, the SMB isn’t focusing on achieving market dominance, or on weeding out the competition. Survival and that next Sale is Top of Mind.

If the SMB is not on the Decline to the Death Stage of the BLC (Business Life Cycle) and has some room to maneuver for a few more years, then it is NOT too late for the SMB to turn things around. In addition to adopting a Competitive Management Practice, a Practical Competitive Advantage, Capacity to Execute must include “Respect”

  1. Respect for Customers: After all Customers; pay the bills.
  2. Respect for Staff: After all Staff is the Face and Personality of the business and The Staff’s collective behaviour and practice determines the business Culture and Brand; NOT the Business “Values” defined in its Corporate Strategy.
  3. Respect the competitors. Odd I know! Competitors are your Competitors because they have Earned That Right. Their performance attracts the customers you would like.
    • When SMBs respect their competitors, they are able to see clearly what their winning Competitive Strategy is, and how they differentiate.
    • I strongly recommend that SMBs avoid Playing Second Fiddle Strategy. Do not copy the Competitor’s Strategy, simply because the SMB is not privy to the insights into the Competitor’s Capacity to Execute. As such, the SMB may not necessarily have the Capacity to Execute if it decides to copy the Competitor’s winning strategy.

With Respect for Customers, Staff & Competitors, SMBs have equipped their companies with the utmost Capacity to Execute Competitive Advantage Strategies; which will:

  • Strengthen the SMBs Brand,
  • Win New Customers, 
  • Improve Proactiveness,
  • Increase Sales,
  • Increase Insights & Resources, allowing the SMBs to get to the next level of Competitive Advantage, Micheal Porter’s level. 

Summary.

Instead of going after the Big Fishes, our Recommendation is that SMBs find out what is Unique & Specific about their business, the Reasons Why Customers are attracted to the business, and leverage those Insights to Develop and Execute a Competitive Advantage Strategy; the SMB has the Capacity to Execute.

At NMCS we have the Tools and Strategies – Services SMBs can afford – to help SMBs get to their Capacity to Execute Competitive Advantage. SMBs have options when it comes to becoming more Competitive, however, the SMBs cannot compete the way the medium-to-large organizations do. SMBs have to take a more Modern Competitive Advantage Approach and Execute their Competitive Advantage within a “Respect” Framework to compete effectively.

Plant the Seed: Focus on the Vision, Start Small, and Start with What you have! 

Nurture the Plant: Honour your trade, Honour your Customer, Honour your Staff, and Honourable Practice! 

Reap the Fruits of your Labour: See how these Simple Strategies Slowly, Steadily and Stealthily Improve the SMB Competitiveness.

 

Be Strategic!

Compete Strategically!