OPENING SHOTS


is either highly differentiated from the other players or one that can be delivered at lower cost. Or, if you focus exclusively on one niche segment of your market, you have a product that is both differentiated and low cost. How to differentiate, you may ask.


Well that depends to an extent on the business, but your product may have a quality or features or functionality others don’t have, you may have a distinctive range of services, or a critical expertise in, say, R&D or marketing, or a special and defensible route to market. Whatever the differentiation, you need to convince your backer that it is both valid in the marketplace and defensible.


3


FOR A BUSINESS STRATEGY TO BE


❝


SUCCESSFUL WITHOUT A THOROUGH


UNDERSTANDING OF THE MARKET IS POSSIBLE: IT IS CALLED LUCK


Manage business risk The third step is to look at your strategy objectively and anticipate


your backer’s concerns. What risks are likely to most weigh on their minds, be they market demand, competitive, strategic or operational? How can you mitigate those risks? Of those that cannot be mitigated, how can you demonstrate that they are of little significance and well outshone by the manifold opportunities waiting to be grasped by your business?


This is business strategy in three


plain and simple steps, whether for a start-up or for a more established SME. Understand your market, gain a competitive advantage and manage the business risks. Develop your strategy, test it and subject it to rigorous cross- examination before approaching a backer. Then wow them with your coherent, credible and convincing business strategy.


Vaughan Evans is an independent consultant specialising in strategy and business planning. vaughanevansandpartners.com


DO YOU THINK VAUGHAN EVANS IS RIGHT? EMAIL US YOUR COMMENTS AT


EDITOR@PUBLICATIONSUK.CO.UK


SME 17


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