Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Business Strategies & Writing Business Plans - Coggle Diagram
Business Strategies & Writing Business Plans
How Can a New Business Be Successful?
A business must be well-prepared even before it launches. Having a business plan is one such way to ensure various strategies are looked into.
Goals/Objectives
Vision
A vision statement looks to the future and defines aspirations. It broadly states where the organisation aspires to go in the long run, such as the example by Nike:
"NIKE, Inc. ... is driven by a shared purpose to leave an enduring impact."
Mission
A mission statement focuses on the present and near-future, and defines purpose. It suggests what the organisation needs to do, and is not as general or broad unlike a vision statement. In the example by Nike:
"With a global footprint, culture of innovation and team-first mentality, we take action to create a future of continual progress for athletes, sport and our world."
The mission statement is more scoped, and identifies certain areas that the business needs to look into, in order to fulfill a particular purpose.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
S: Specific
Make goals clear and specific
M: Measurable
Define measurable assets
A: Attainable
Confirm your goals are attainable
R: Relevant
Verify your goals are relevant
T: Time-based/Timely
Set up a time-based/timely plan
Target Market
When designing a product, it is important to bear in mind who the target user is, as we have emphasised in the Design Thinking process.
There is hardly a product or service that is made for "everybody and anybody" -- it simply means the product was not designed with the user in mind!
You can use personas to represent your target users. Provide some demographic information, their goals or challenges, as well as their buying behaviour.
Considering the target user ultimately leads to the target market that they are from. The target market can be segmented into the following categories:
Demographic: Consider relevant demographics such as age, gender, race, education level, marital status, income levels of potential customers, etc.
Psychographic: Lifestyle, social class, personality-based segmentation
Usage-related/Behavioral: Timing of market launch – whether seasonal in nature, Life-cycle of product – period in which the product is favorably accepted in the market.
Knowing your target marketing can give an indication of your market size and the growth potential for your business.
Competitive Analysis - S.W.O.T.
Competitive analysis is the process of identifying competitors in your industry and researching their different business strategies.
You can use this information compare your company's strengths and weaknesses against your competitor companies.
S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is one framework that can be used to evaluate a company's competitive position.
By evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, you can capitalise on your competitors’ weaknesses and enhance your company’s strengths when launching and marketing your products.
Importantly, it can help your company build up and sustain your competitive advantages.
Example
Strength:
Products
Processes
Environmentally friendly
Cost
What features do you offer that competitors don't have?
Weakness:
What features are lacking in your product as compared to your competitors?
Possible improvement for process
Opportunities:
Incapabilites of competitors
Trend
Up and coming related technology
Changing buying habits of consumers
Threats:
New competitors coming up
Are existing competitors claiming more market share?
Possible legislation changes
Use PESTLE analysis: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal & Environmental analysis
Positioning - Strategy Canvas
Positioning is how your company’s product is being perceived in the minds of customers as compared to your competitors.
A common tool that is used to demonstrate positioning is the Strategy Canvas, a charting tool which compares how customers rate your product against similar products from other competitors.
In a strategy canvas, the vertical axis represents the low and high ratings of the customers regarding the product, while the horizontal axis represents the various factors of competition (features, cost, design, quality, etc).
Marketing Mix - 4P's
One common tool to help formulate the marketing strategy is known as the 4P's marketing mix. The marketing mix is a set of controllable variables that must be managed to satisfy the target market and achieve the organisation objectives.
These controllable variables are classified as the 4Ps: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Product:
This typically refers to product differentiation. The product should be differentiated from competitor’s products in terms of quality, quantity and intellectual property protection.
For example, why would you buy one phone over another model? Is it the quality of the camera which makes this phone more superior? If so, then this is what distinguishes the product from another!
Place:
Place refers to the product’s channels of distribution or how it is conveyed from the producer to the end user, e.g. brick and mortar business, pop-up stalls, e-commerce.
This would ultimately affect the reach of the business. Is it able to reach the target market through the specific channel that is being used? Place may also include manufacturing, transportation, warehousing, wholesaling and retailing considerations.
Promotion:
Promotion involves communicating the product attributes and the corporate image in the most favorable light to intermediary sellers and end users.
At the same time, we also need to consider through what channel is the promotion being done?
Promotion may also include strategies to increase sales of products or services.
Price:
Setting the correct price is very important. The correct price will ensure that we can cover all costs. At the same time, the correct price can help to generate sales.
Different price strategies can be utilised at different stages of the product life cycle. Some of these price strategies may include:
Penetration pricing
Fair/parity pricing
Skimming price
Cost-plus pricing.
For example, penetration pricing can be used by offering really attractive prices at stage of product launch, in order to capture market share.
1 more item...
Green Strategies
Importance of Sustainability
Keeping Our World Clean:
When engineering products for mass manufacturing, it is important to keep in mind sustainability strategies. Sustainable actions make a real difference to the place we live in.
By actively carrying out sustainable actions, it can reduce carbon footprint and the amount of toxins released into our world, making it safer.
Ensuring Sustainable Source of Resources and Supplies:
For businesses, green strategies are important as it ensures that resources are consumed in a sustainable manner to avoid rapid depletion and hence disruption of product supply to customers.
Consumer Expectations:
Today, consumers are more environmentally-conscious and expect businesses to be socially responsible to the environment.
What Can Businesses Do?
Five Green Strategies to Consider:
Create Greener Product - For example, a company can create products that uses recycled materials, or from materials that are less resource-intensive that produces a lower carbon footprint.
Have A Recycling or Waste Reduction Programme - A business can actively encourage its consumers to participate in recycling programmes, such as the return of empty printer toner cartridges.
Choose Sustainable Packaging - A company can decide if packaging is necessary, if at all. Did you know deodorant used to be packaged in cardboard boxes? These days, you grab them off the shelves without the boxes! As another example, caters provide bio-degradable cutleries these days.
1 more item...