The High Growth Enterprise
A consumer centric business
A consumer centric business understands that most markets
have room for growth.
Identifying different sub-categories within a market
segment can often lead to creating more specialized products and services that
cater to more specific needs of a larger segment of consumers.
For example multiple sports activities create
unique opportunities for shoe manufacturers to design foot wear for individual
sporting needs.
The more you are able to commercialize on customizing to
the varied needs and taste of consumers the greater will be your market share.
A good business vision is one that is specific enough to inspire practical and
profitable action while being broad enough to encourage market growth.
Consider carefully the various market consolidation and
expansion options.
Widen
your Geographical Market Base
All business is local. However, all markets are global.
Global trade and technology has created opportunities for business to serve an
existing market segment over a wider geographical area.
Today pizza has become
a global meal option. It is no longer confined to pizza lovers in Italy. While
North Americans may be forgiven for considering it a local meal, the fact
remains that the love affair with pizza is worldwide.
Market expansion in such a case is only limited to a
business owner’s desire as to whether to expand into a wider area of coverage.
Serving a local or global market is a matter of ambition.
A business that chooses to serve a defined local market
can withstand challenges from global competitors through leveraging on their
local knowledge of consumer buying psychology.
Widen
your Market Segment
We humans enjoy being identified by social group
characteristics while at the same time craving for the ability to express our
own distinct individuality. This can be translated into a business plan to
reach out to as wide a segment of the consumer community.
For instance, a cola company need not just sell cola
drinks. It can say it is in the drinks
business. This would encourage the natural synergy for expanding into providing
a range of drinks from hot beverages to soda pop and water.
If the cola company says it is in the food business, the
natural thing to do is to serve food with the drinks. Cola and burger or coffee and muffins have
become natural fits through marketing design.
Deepen
your Market Penetration
A shoe shop that caters to as wide a segment of the
footwear market makes sense. However, the alternative is to adopt a market
penetration strategy that means providing existing consumers with an added
variety of products and services.
A shoe manufacturer may increase its variety of offerings
to include clothing related to the specific shoe segment. Basketball players
need more than just shoes designed for the game. They need the clothing, game
equipment and all the necessary accessories. There is business beyond shoes.
Redefine
your Market for High Growth
The lesson we learn is markets are seldom fully
penetrated. The mindset of high growth businesses is, essentially to redefine the
market segment to 10% of the market share each time you reach a point of coming
close to 50% percent share of the existing defined market segment.
A market segment exists so long as the identified market
is sufficient to provide the expected profit.
A
High Growth Business Culture
To attain a pattern of continual high growth, a business
must develop a mindset for high growth that energizes business activity across
the organization. This energy should drive the individuals serving the organization
to give their best in all they do.
There should be a culture of open communication that continually
provides feedback that is channeled all the way to the top leadership.
The feedback should be analyzed for ideas on how to
better serve the existing market segment and how to redefine the market to
create a bigger market segment.
Consult
To Identify Growth Opportunities.
It is a challenge to both run a business and engage in
studying feedback from the market to spot the evolutions in the market.
Being too fast to change can mean not sufficiently
exploiting the existing defined market. Too slow to change can mean becoming
obsolete or irrelevant in an evolving market.
Nobody would have wanted to have been the last typewriter
company in a world dominated by personal computers.
Spotting changes in the market requires an objective
analysis of feedback from consumers, the industry, your team members and creators
of new technology.
An outside consultant sitting in with your team can more
effectively ask seemingly unrelated questions that lead to deeper insights on
the next best course of action for continual high growth.
Like a coach in a game, the consultant can help your star
players attain that edge needed to continue being profitable.
Siddha Param
International Business Consultant
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
International Business Consultant
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
All business is local. All
markets are global.
