Develop Winning Strategies

.The key to the survival of a new business is its ability to satisfy consumer demand. The rule is simple: if they don’t buy, your business dies. It is important that you develop winning strategies that will make customers buy and keep your business profitable.

To develop winning strategies, Professor Malcolm McDonald suggests that you take the time to answer the following questions:

• Can you list your key target markets? (in order of priority)
• Can you describe (quantitatively and qualitatively) the value that is required by each of your key target markets?
• Is what your company does superior in any way?
• In each of these key target markets, can you describe how your organisation creates superior value?
• Do the relevant senior people in your organisation understand and support the above three points?
• Are all the relevant functions in your company organised in a way that is supportive of delivering the value required by the customer?

Monroe Porter,  in his article “Winning Strategies in a Challenging Economy” (Leaders in Landscape 2009, pp. 8-9), lists down 10 steps on how to develop winning strategies for your business:

1. Be a leader
2. Identify and strengthen your business shortcomings
3. Get everyone on board
4. Salespeople have to sell
5. Protect your margins
6. Focus on the core business
7. Don’t wait too long to cut costs
8. Don’t let anyone treat you like a bank
9. Know which marketing tactics are most effective for your market
10. If you do have to lay people off – again, be a leader