questions to ask when starting a business what is our business? who is the customer? what is their...
TRANSCRIPT
Questions to ask when starting a business
• What is our business?
• Who is the customer?
• What is their problem/pain ?
• What is of value to the customer?
• How will we reach the customer ?
• What will our business be?
Strategic Marketing Planning
Ian Sandison, Kevin Gooding
IntroductionsIan Sandison
12 years Corporate Medtech sales and marketing
8 yrs Cambridge based business consultancy
Recruitment, Retail, Tourism, Teaching, MBA Mentor
Kevin Gooding
Marketer with a technical background
Mix Corporate (15 yrs) & Entrepreneurial (10 yrs)
Sectors: Telco/CATV (Corp.), mobile content, Internet
plus......since
Strategic Marketing Management
Strategy
A Central Theme that Guides Functional Actions, a
Compass not a map
Questions to ask when starting a business
What is our business?
Who is the customer?
What is their problem/pain ?
What is of value to the customer?
How will we reach the customer ?
What will our business be?
Contents of a marketing plan
The Euromart marketing plan is based on an approach
inspired by Professors Kashani and Turpin of the IMD in
Switzerland: Executive summary + table of contents
Contextual/Situational analysis, Customer analysis
Competition analysis
Company strategic approach
Channel analysis (distribution and marketing communications)
Product and/or market focus
Financial projections + cash analysis
Marketing programmes implementation and control
Sustainable Competitive advantage
Using the business’s skills and resources to deliver
superior customer value to the chosen target segments
at a cost that will result in a reasonable profit
Sustainable Competitive advantage
Skills- competencies and know how
Resources – plant, assets, people
Superior- greater than the norm
Value – as perceived by the customer
Segments- where you have a differentiated USP
Cost- internal cost of goods
Profit – achieving a good selling price to cover your
costs and result in a good profit
Sustainable Competitive advantage
Decide what you are going to do and do it well, what
you don’t do well, don’t do !
Considering your skills, resources and assets, decide
what your business is good at and what other markets
you can enter that require similar
Entering ‘new areas’ will involve new skills resources
and assets
Sustainable Competitive advantage
Need to consider Market or Segment attractiveness
What factors might influence this ?
The Value Chain
Question:
What are the core activities of a business and how and
where value can be created?
The generic value chain
Source: From M. E. Porter (1985) Competitive Advantage. Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, New York: Free Press. Copyright © 1985 by Michael E. Porter. Reproduced with permission from The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group
The Value Chain
Competitive advantage is gained from creating new
ways to conduct activities, employ new procedures,
outsource requirements and use new technologies.
Questions ?
How can we identify new value opportunities?
How can we efficiently create more
promising new value offerings?
How can we use capabilities and infrastructure to
deliver the new value offerings more efficiently?
The Planning process
Corporate headquarters undertake four planning
activities:
1 Defining the corporate mission
2 Defining the business
3 Assigning resources to each SBU
4 Assessing growth opportunities
Context: OXEMS
2010 spinout from University of Oxford
Fully funded
Development focus – almost complete
Trials planned
Target clients: Utilities (water initially)
Full launch planning underway
The Market Comes First
Begin with a real NEED
(Thoroughly) Understand:
Today’s market (i.e. before you arrive)
Who are your target clients?
Their problems / Their pain
Where there are ‘value’ opportunities
Informingyourplan
The ‘Hour-Glass’ Principle
Customers
Segmentation
Positioning
Competition
Start here
Launch here
Grow here
Vision -> Focus -> Growth
Product Approach
Prototype v’s Product
Address the basic need HEAD ON
Enhance - but don’t overcomplicate
Address objections before they arise
Understand your long term vision (why are you selling
this product?)
Service elements - from day 1
3 parts = 1 fully integrated solution
+ +Tagging
UnitsIntegrated
Identification
OXEMS - Product Approach
OXEMSDetector
OXEMS - Enhancing the Message
Putting roadworks in a
measured business
context
Influence the
influencers e.g. TFL
Evening Standard, August 2010
Pricing Considerations
Cash flow, cash flow, cash flow
Margins (unit and volumes)
On-going v’s One-off
Multiple elements
Pricing forms an integral part of your product –
defining where your business ends up
Market Entry
Start with a Value Proposition (‘value’ to clients)
Aim to “get it right first time”
Balance with ‘beta’/learning approach
Involve clients in R&D/Trials etc
Ramp up to launch – hit the ground running (Thought
Leadership/PR/website etc)
Be creative with cash – e.g. Leverage partner brands
Cash Flow (Startup/SME)
Focus here
Be a miser
Look for ST revenues
Helps cash flow
Increases client buy-in
Encourages investors/shareholders
Make sure you have enough!
Summary / Making Your Plan
Begin with a NEED / understand your market
Focus (Hourglass Principle)
Define your Product/Service
Integrate Pricing
Value Proposition / Market Entry
Deliver (to the need & more)
Strategic Marketing Planning
Ian Sandison 07968 303 457 [email protected]
Kevin Gooding 07796 695 725 [email protected]