How To Establish An Entrepreneurial Edge After The Great Shutdown - Bloomsford Entrepreneurs Digest


Entrepreneurs are constantly seeking an edge or an advantage. In fact, most entrepreneurs are wired to look at the world from an opportunist’s perspective and are regularly working an angle, an approach, or a way of attacking a business opportunity that others have missed or have left exposed.

Business consultants get paid big bucks to help organizations identify, create and maintain a ‘competitive advantage’. A competitive advantage is the million-dollar term business textbooks use to describe an entrepreneurial edge. A competitive advantage is defined as the ability of an organization to provide its products or services with either: 1) a higher value to their customers than a competitor but at a similar cost; or, 2) the same value but at a lower cost. A competitive advantage that is sustained should provide a business with the ability to realize consistently higher profits than its competitors.

Higher profits, the goal of many organizations and entrepreneurs (and the successful competitive advantages they build) can be reinvested in things like:

  • Growth by acquiring market share, entering new markets, or developing new products
  • Brand enhancement programs or product improvements that increase value
  • Capital improvements that reduce costs or increase quality
  • Compensation that attracts or retains top talent who will perpetuate the advantages
  • Legal maneuvers that protect business investments
  • Establishing an entrepreneurial edge after the Great Shutdown

The most obvious competitive advantage for the period immediately following Covid-19 will be speed. As the economies of the world rebound from the Great Shutdown, there will be a huge ‘land grab’ for market share. The best time to enter a market is during a growth phase when there is typically more demand than supply. The markets, post-Covid-19, will offer huge economic opportunities for entrepreneurs that will see large unmet demands and weakened incumbents too slow or unable to respond. Entrepreneurs should look to freelancers and flex labor sources as a way to respond to the huge opportunity that is about to unfold.

Entrepreneurs, however, should not limit their focus to timing the perfect entry or gathering resources for rapid growth. They should also seek valuable competitive advantages in those markets that can be built and sustained. These efforts should be undertaken knowing that the market will have shifted, with consumers seeking more comfort (and security), more convenience and more community. They should also align with transformative forces at work in both local and global economies.

These forces include three pushing a massive transformation 

(1. Globalization; 2. Knowledge Growth; and 3. Technology Adoption); three pulling the same transition (1. Consumer Demand; 2. Demographic Shift, from Boomers to Millennials; and 3. A Cultural Revolution–Millenials have different ideas); and, three enablers that are greasing the wheels of change (1. Digital Communication; 
2. Marketplaces and Co-working Spaces; and 3. Social Supports, like access to healthcare). Together, these forces will drive rapid transitions on a local and a global scale. Entrepreneurs need to see, catch and ride these massive waves of change as they will lift a few and crush many. I’ll write more about these trends soon.

Creating and sustaining an entrepreneurial edge

When considering what advantage to create and sustain, market research must be undertaken. The goal of the research and the related analyses should be to determine how the target market is segmented and what each of those segments value. Mature markets typically segment into three relatively distinct groups of consumers. Those that are motivated primarily by:
The best brand. This group always wants to be associated with the hottest trend. They tend to be image-conscious shoppers.
The best product or service. This group cares about quality and performance. They will often research the possible choices thoroughly.
The lowest price. This group shops like it’s on a budget, seeking the product or service that meets most of their needs for the lowest price available.

The goal of every entrepreneur should be to focus on a segment of the market that:


  • Is large enough to sustain their business.
  • Will need and value the product or service they will offer.
  • Is aligned with a sustainable competitive advantage that they can create and maintain.
  • Said in a more direct way: You want to be the best provider in the best market segment for you.
SOCIAL MEDIA 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Letter to Nigeria Youth by Prof Bernard Odoh - Bloomsford Entrepreneurship Academy

Image
LETTER TO YOUTH By Prof Benard Odoh Keep your Degree in a safe custody for future opportunity, and engage in entrepreneur skills, otherwise you will die poor. Most of the educated people in Nigeria are poor. Majority of the educated earn less than N55,000 for a salary before tax and other deductions. When the deductions are put into consideration, the net salary comes to around N50,000. The net salary then suffers from loan deductions of up to N15,000 leaving the salary at around N35,000. The landlord then demands for his N15,000 and monthly shopping takes away N10,000 leaving one with a N10,000. The bus will demand for N300 going to and from work and relatives get another N2,500. The whole salary is gone and borrowed money starts operating. The borrowed money includes short loans and salary advances. The difference between poverty and prosperity is property. A prosperous person has property to his name while a poverty stricken person has no property to show. Using this unde
Read more

Two important management lessons I learnt from a 500 Naira note. - Bloomsford Entrepreneurship

Image
Take action. 1. It happened some time ago but I was in an audience listening to a motivational speaker. The speaker got out his wallet & pulled out a 500 Naira note. Holding it up, he asked, "Who wants this 500 naira note?" Lots of hands went up. Including mine. A slow chorus began to build as people began to shout "Me!" "Me!" I began to wonder who the lucky one would be, who the speaker would choose. And I also secretly wondered (and I am sure others did too ) why he would simply give away 500 naira. Even as the shouts of "I want it" grew louder, I noticed a young woman running down the aisle. She ran up onto the stage, went up to the speaker, and grabbed the five 500 naira note from his hand. "Well done, young lady," said the speaker into the microphone. The speaker simply say "Most of us just sit and wait for good things to happen. That's of no use. You've got to make things happen. Make a move" 'Simply thin
Read more

Career Opportunities At Mutual Trust Microfinance Bank

Image
Career Opportunities At Mutual Trust Microfinance Bank Mutual Trust Microfinance Bank is an aggressive and forward looking Microfinance Bank in Abuja. We seek to employ for the vacant position below: Job Title: Head, Financial Control Location: Abuja Requirements A minimum of first degree or its equivalent in any discipline (additional qualification or degree in any finance or business related discipline may be an advantage) Evidence that the candidate possesses proven competences in the respective position. Minimum of eight (8) years post-qualification experience out of which, at least five (5) must be in the financial services industry (and relevant to the position of interest) and least, three (3) at the senior management level Key advantage is an evidence that the candidate possesses proven skills and competences in practical Microfinance Banking and has undergone the Microfinance Certification Program and obtained a Certificate in Microfinance Banking issued by the Charte
Read more