Business Strategy - Barriers to Entry

Starting a new business? Introducing a new product or service to your current business? Before embarking on either, strategic consideration should be given to potential barriers of entry to the market - and how you will position yourself and develop a competitive strategy to overcome them. Porter's 5 forces model of industry analysis is an excellent tool that could help you decide on strategy and ascertain whether your business may achieve success and profitability in a particular industry.

Finding Opportunities And Strategizing

Two men once visited the same forest and noticed that people in the forest and adjoining areas walked barefoot. One of them saw this as a potential market to sell footwear whereas the other man thought that there is absolutely no market to sell footwear as people are not aware of it and hence would not be so keen on buying shoes. Thus, it is all about your perception; it decides how successful you can be as an entrepreneur. Markets are created based on ones perceptions and others only jump into the bus once the market is created. But the early mover always has an advantage and the consumers in those markets would be more loyal towards those brands in the future.

A Proven Model Using Two Workgroups to Produce Successful Proposals and Reports

Every proposal or major report has two components: the substantive sections and the structural sections. I suggest mirroring these two document components with a model composed of two workgroups: one workgroup acts as the core writing group and the other is the structural writing group. Each workgroup is responsible for their own internal reviews, and one person, the Document Editor, communicates with both groups and the external reviewers.

Are You Running a Business or a Practice?

There's a big difference between running a business and running a practice. A practice is dependent on you as the author or thought leader to deliver all the solutions that generate revenue. These might be things like writing books or articles, keynote speeches, workshops or consulting engagements. If you're truly running a business you have all of those options as well as training solutions (either licensed to clients or delivered by others), assessment tools, consulting engagements that you aren't personally delivering, e-learning, coaching and more.

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Facility Consolidation/Relocation

As manufacturing continues toward globalization, it is increasingly important for companies to streamline in order to maintain competitiveness. In attempting to do so, many manufacturers will undoubtedly face challenges within their organizations that can be difficult to overcome. One such challenge, that can be particularly complex, is dealing with the individuals who may be affected by the streamlining process. Setting aside the human equation is often difficult, but necessary.

Do You Think What You Are Thinking Is Thinking?

In a society that craves instant results and fantastic quarterly earnings, taking action is more important than thinking. As long as you are doing something, the belief is there will be great results. This philosophy has become so pervasive that even the CEO is expected to function similarly. Except, without sufficient time to think clearly about outcomes, how will you know if you are moving in an optimal direction?

Business plans

Business plans serve two vital purposes. It shows what is in store for you and it will also assist prospective investors, money lender, business plan consultant and business associates comprehend your plan and assess the chances of its success. Moreover, it will be a platform that you can visit again and again to gauge if you are on the right track and make revisions as and when needed.