Define Business Strategy- Business Value Approach/Business Strategy

It’s time to create your company’s blueprint to success! Start by referring to the chart in my prior blog posting “Working Smarter Not Harder" http://envisionstrategizesucceed.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post.html

Let’s focus in on Step 1: defining your business strategy. In order to capture your target market you need to first define your “Business Value Approach”. That means how does your company stand out from its competitors? What does your company’s product offer that your competitor’s product does not? How do you differentiate your company from the others?

Let’s briefly review Michael Porter’s four “Generic” Business Strategies:

http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/competitive_advantage.htm

I would like to talk about differentiation since this tends to be the direction for most small and medium sized companies.  Attractiveness in the industry in which it operates is a determinate in profitability. In today’s changing economy positioning is everything and a firm that is optimally positioned can generate superior returns. Leverage your strengths, and ensure differentiation by having: access to leading scientific research, highly skilled and creative productive development team, strong sales team and ensuring quality and innovation. As a result your consumers will value a product/service that is unique and more desirable.  Focus on a wider range of product development strengths to a narrow geographic market, and your firm will earn an above average return on investments.  All the while satisfying small groups priced at premium. Many firms who use this strategy have high degrees of customer loyalty, which discourages other companies from competing directly.
How do you differ from your competition? 
What makes your product/service superior to other in the industry? 
Differentiate to compete!

ERP = How to Create Streamlined Processes = Profit

     Until recently, history has told a story of business growth which had consistent boundaries for the definition of small business through that of large business. Small businesses start, they face challenges and they surpass them to grow and compete with larger businesses or else they choose to remain competitive within the small business arena. That story has evolved significantly with advances in technology and the development of the strategic business environment of today. The problem now is that globalization has created new definitions for the boundaries of a small business; add to that the advances in technology which have brought about new benchmarks for competitive standards regardless of the business size. 

     In the past, growth was the major challenge for any sized company. Managing and maintaining internal controls during growth cycles were the main focus of management. Today management must focus on much more than controls and growth in order to succeed. Buzz words like differentiation, hyper-competition, strategy and process planning are essential to the health of businesses in today’s world. Small business is highly vulnerable and is susceptible to fatality. Due to high mortality in the formative years and surmounting problems from poor strategic planning, a small business faces some of the greatest challenges in its infancy than ever in its lifetime. 

     Globalization and technology has opened up the tight target markets of a small business which in turn has allowed opportunities for expansion from the traditional small business strategies of the past. Contemporary computer applications and the speed of communicating via the internet, is now enabling the small business to appear and act like a large organization. Integrating all facets of business such as sales & distribution, finance & accounting, operations, human resources and many other aspects have now become much easier, both to control and monitor. An enterprise resource planning (ERP) program is one such invaluable gift of modern technology to the world of business.

     Ever since the birth of ERP, it had been confined by its very definition to the large organization due to the many challenges it brought along. Large organizations have struggled with implementing such a complex and customized ERP program application. It is only recently that the concept of ERP has changed from being known as a large business software application to its actual and true business concept of being a strategic plan coordinating and customizing the fit of enterprise resources. These resources are human resources, processes, and the applications needed to create a dynamic workflow environment which feeds into the business strategy and vision of the organization.

Working Smarter Not Harder Starts Here

     SEO, which is the acronym for Search Engine Optimization, is the process of improving traffic to your website by employing techniques that achieve a higher ranking during online searching. You have probably been approached by a company that does SEO if your business has a website. That company would likely explain how their technique is far superior and unique from any other. The unique part is probably accurate; you may have a hard time finding another SEO company comparable since the techniques used are quite diverse.  It is very difficult to find SEO companies that offer a comprehensive customized menu of services. In fact it is difficult to find SEO companies that offer a simple explanation of exactly what they are doing for you. Incomplete information on an important marketing topic equates to wasted money more often than not. What is needed is SEO made simple, with validated results.

     Educating yourself on the definition of the types of services is the first step. The simple explanation of SEO is still a process which improves the volume and the quality of web traffic to your website; however there is much more to that. I will approach one SEO technique at a time and explain each and how they are done, and more importantly why you might want to utilize that particular technique. The art of SEO is ever changing as technology advances and competition in the field drives innovation.  I would encourage input since my journey to understanding this topic could surely be enlightened but your experience and skills.

     SEO is an important part of a strong virtual marketing plan but is not a singular product which can be simply compared by price alone. Let’s explore:

** Keywords ** Link Requests ** Code Optimization ** Blogs ** Press Releases ** Meta Tags ** Website Content ** Facebook ** Google Analytics ** Maps ** More **

Graphic from http://www.advernation.com/

Is This Your Business Story!?

Nearly every small business you walk into tells the same story. A person with a great idea starts up a company, gets busier faster than expected with no intended strategy just the desire to succeed. Next, he finds himself with a company full of employees, no finite processes and daily confusion. As you make your way through interviewing the department heads you can almost dictate how the audit will read. The small business working in a scarce resource environment will randomly add software solutions to their portfolio of applications to fix a particular need at that moment. Their department’s processes while meeting the criteria for the job at hand never seem to mold well into the company's overall workflow strategy.  

They call it job security since they are certain that re-doing the work of other departments is necessary in order to accurately create their own reporting. I call it losing money. Confusion is easy to create in small business; simplicity takes work and requires a strategy. Strategy equals profit.  Profit comes from a seamless workflow that clearly communicates to each department and reports adequately and in a timely manner. So what is the resolve; a strategic Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP).

Often, analysis of the combined resource costs associated with each department’s self-created processes clearly shows that there is significant money spent on random applications and wasted employee time. A properly planned business strategy which includes a well devised resource plan creates value by creating clear communication, controlled processes, employee efficiency and effective reporting. 

Small Business Strategies Part 1- Successful Globalization through ERP

     Technology and globalization have made it possible for a small business to appear big and allow it to move and capture new territories which were unattainable locations controlled by industry goliaths. Globalization is now defining the new arena that was until now not available. The small business is much stronger and no longer restricted to its local neighborhood. The target market for the “local guy” is evolving and it is now evidently becoming the “global guy”, taking orders and delivering values to the global customer, just as the medium and large businesses do.

How does a small to medium sized enterprise (SME) successfully develop and implement an Enterprise Resource Plan to accrue competitive strategic benefits?  Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has long been associated with costly, sophisticated process consolidating software applications for large businesses.   In the past, the SME was not able to conceive of a way to structure this type of plan into their strategy.  

            ERP’s have been a weapon of choice of the big guys. Now ERP is a necessity for even the SME in order to be successful in a fast paced hyper-competitive environment. Various process solutions have become more readily accessible to the “local guy” allowing for a flattening of the world market. So this creates many questions. What purpose will the ERP ultimately serve for its business? How will it help the business to achieve its mission and realize its goals? What strategic benefits would it provide; and at what cost? What organizational resources will be sacrificed in terms of time and training? And finally, are there suitable products offered in today’s market and how do we ensure that they will be flexible to technological advances?

             Let's talk about how you can make this happen for your small business. More to come.