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Chapter 7Imitation with a Twist: StrategiesSmall Business Management4660

1. PrestrategyWhat do you expect out of the business?What is your product or service idea?How innovative or imitative will you be?What do you plan to sell-everyone or targeted markets?Where do you plan to sell?

a. Owner RewardsUniversal - flexibility, personal growth and a solid personal incomeGreat wealth and developing a new product or service mentioned occasionallyAdd meaningful valuesExtraordinaryExpectation - should be centralb. Product/Service IdeaProduct or service - SECOND pre-strategy decision.37% of businesses start with an ideaanother 21% have idea and desire to start a business simultaneously.

Select an industry - offers:High profit marginMinimum of risk and competitionThis combination is known as Industry Attractiveness.i. Industryii. Imitation and InnovationOwner wants to be a lot alike the rest of the industry but not exactlyStill want to have something that distinguishes them from their competition special and better.Differentiation StrategiesImitativeInnovativeIncremental Innovationa. Imitative strategy - do more or less what others do in an industryAdvantages include:Can buy existing technology.Vendors and service suppliers are familiar.Customers already know about the product or service - dont have to educate them.Disadvantages ?

b. Innovative strategy is pursued by doing something very different than whats been done before.Advantage making the business precisely fit - own ideas and preferences.Main disadvantage - energy needed to market these products.

c. Add a few more significant changes in one ortwo key areas - following an incrementalinnovation approach.Most companies operate somewhere on the continuum of purely innovative to cloned, imitative businesses and varying on degrees of similarity.

iii. Entry Wedges:

An opportunity that makes it possible for a new business to gain a foothold in a market

E.g. Plant stem cell for slowing down biological aging

Supply shortages. D > SE.g. Cosmetic products halalan toyyiba - affordableUnutilized resources. E.g. Part-time / home-based distributors Contracting. Occurs when a customer is willing to sign a contract with a manufacturerE.g. Outsource production

Second sourcing Avoid components - only from a single source To provide customers with greater certainty of suppliers.Market relinquishment. Companies leave a market Zaitun gunakan tanpa was-wasFavored purchasing / support. Government agencies / big businesses have policies for set-asides for Micro / SME E.g. MARA

iv. MarketsA market is a business term for the population of customers of product or service. Look at Scale and Scope

Scale has to do with the market size.May cover large portions of the populations a mass market.May also cover a narrowly defined segment of the populations a niche market.E.g. Halalan Toyyiba customers

Most industries have both mass and niche marketsE.g. general skin care vs halal skin care (special interest group)

Scope looks at the markets geographic spread.A markets scope may be local, regional, national to globalMost small businesses tend to be local in scope.Helps determine where to focus sales and advertising efforts.2. Customers and Benefits SECOND step - strategy process focuses on kind of customer to whom you want to sell and benefits and attract them.Its not about us its about peopleEmotional intelligence the winning strategy

Certain groups of customers considered attractive:Corporate customers: B2B sales exceed B2C.Loyal customers: The ones who return - pre-sold.Local customers: In the digital age local has more to do with the relationship.Passionate customers: not only loyal but enthusiastic about your business.Thinking about who - your potential customers helpful - to find them.One key decision in finding the customers - to offer them benefits.Best way to find - ask the customers either directly or indirectly.

Benefits are how you appeal to your target customer base.Value benefits Displays characteristics related to the nature of the product or service

Include Quality offering high quality e.g. money back guarantees and warrantiesStyle beautiful, popular and aesthetically pleasingDelivery speedy and on time deliveryService quality service after sales and personalisedBrand represent a reputation

Cost benefits refers to the ways by which a company can keep costs low for the customers:Include Lower costs - Operating from home

Scale savings - Buying in volumeScope savings - A multifunction skin care product firming, glowing, anti-wrinkle, slow down agingLearning As company gets more experience fewer mistakes and greater efficienciesOrganisational practices mastered a promotion that is cheaper

3. Industry Dynamics and Analysis THIRD step In order to choose the best positionLook at the changes in competitors sales and profits in a particular industryTo make sure it is a good time to enter

Industry Life Cycle7-28

Industries move in traditional ways:During the introduction stage Only a few companies.Innovative approach.Number of companies - sales grow slowly.Most customers are not aware

Once customer are more aware - two possibilities in the growth stage:Most products grow at a regular rate.Some products - more or less meets customer demand.Alternatively, a few other products turn out to be extremely popular and hotSome companies jump into the market to take advantage of this boom. As the boom ends, there is a shake-out where many companies close down.Boom or Shake-out - industry will reach a fairly stable number of companies with minor variations and a slow drop in numbers.This is called maturity stage.Eventually mature industries start a decline stage.Some industries face death while others find a new life in a process called retrenchment.4. Strategy Selection and ImplementationDifferentiationCostFocus

Differentiation strategies aimed at mass markets situations in which nearly everyone might buyExtra value benefits different from the competitorsE.g. Skin care product halal, organic based, hygienic, affordable and online orderCost strategies also aimed at mass marketsExtra cost benefits appeal to customers different from the competitorsE.g. Cheap skin careFocus strategies target a portion of the market niche market specialised marketInstead of selling to mass markets target a certain group of customersE.g. Halalan Toyyiban educated internet generationAs an extension - supra-strategies can be pursued:Craftsmanship Specialised and localised(e.g. Halalan Toyyiba and local active ingredients)Customization Custom features high quality (e.g. Custom-made skin care vs mass produced skin care)Super-SupportIntensive personalized support after-sales service (e.g. online chat)Serving the UnderservedIgnored by large competitors (e.g. halalan toyyiban)EliteHigh quality products with high prices (e.g. Polished packaging)Single-mindednessDemonstrating exceptional expertise (e.g. normal skin care ingredients vs highly concentrated skin care ingredients)ComprehensivenessOffering one-stop shopping with complete inventory, immediate delivery, knowledgeable staff (e.g. integrated social media)Formula facilities Use a prepackaged business (e.g online affiliates ready system to distribute)Bare bones or no-frills providerKeep prices super low (below RM 10 skin care)Cutting out the intermediaryEliminating retailers mark-ups (e.g. Sell direct via internet no distributors)5. Tool: SWOT AnalysisSWOT Analysis stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats Tool for strategy process.SW = Internal FactorsOT = External FactorsStrengths - internal characteristics of business - give it an advantage over othersWeaknesses - internal characteristics that place companies at a disadvantage relative to others. Opportunities - chances to make greater sales or profits in the environment. Threats - elements of the environment that could cause trouble to the business.

SWOT - help organize the business strategies.

How? Ways to gather information:From yourselfFrom others who know your companies or market or industryFrom customers or potential customersFrom brainstorming sessionsTool: SWOT Analysis7-44

SWOT AnalysisCombinationsStrategic directionConceptualization of how a business might best move in response to findings of a SWOT analysisFlaunt, Fix, Fight, Flee, Find, or Fire-up.

7-45Figure 7.4Once the SWOT analysis is completed the best strategic direction can be determined: flaunt, fix, fight, flee, find, or fire-up.S+O=Flaunt: focus efforts if strengths match opportunities W+O=Fix weaknesses that get in the way of pursuing opportunities.

S+T=Fight threats with strengths.W+T=Flee when threats are made worse by weaknesses.

S+W=Find specific market if your strengths match your weaknesses .O+T=Fire-up the product or service is not distinctive enough to compete in the market.

Revision

4-49Thank You