You cannot dominate a market by looking and sounding just like everyone else
There are many factors that motivate people to start a business, but no entrepreneur has ever set out with the goal of being average.
They want to do something they are passionate about, to do work that has meaning, set their own goals and build something special. Something that justifies the risk and uncertainty of business ownership.
It’s a tough road. 20% of businesses don’t see their first birthday and 50% fail within five years. So, what happens?
Unless you are a genuine disruptor bringing something ground-breaking to the market, the reality is this: most markets are congested with competitors, each with an owner that is probably as motivated as you, and they want their business to succeed at the expense of yours.
Most businesses think that their product or service will win the day especially when coupled with assurances of attentive service and competitive prices. Customers however see something different – they see similar businesses selling similar services and products with similar promises of quality and service, and all too often, the only differentiator available to them is price.
Any organisation serving markets with plentiful options for buyers face competitive forces – usually pricing pressures – that drive margin pressure and can stagnate growth.
The truth is simple. You cannot dominate a market by looking and sounding just like everyone else. You have to figure out how to create a sustainable competitive advantage over your rivals and consistently out-perform them.
You need a competitive strategy.
This is what we do.
EvettField Partners. Competitive strategy.
Our overriding goal is to help business owners create long-term value. At the most fundamental level, the quantum, reliability and risk attached to free cash flows is a key driver of enterprise value (EV).
EvettField is a B2B competitive strategy advisory firm that works on the revenue-side of a clients’ business, and our goal is to increase free cash flow and (hence) EV through:
- Increased sales
- Improved margins
- Reduced revenue risk
Competitive strategy is a long-term plan of action through which an organisation gains a sustainable competitive advantage over its rivals and consistently out-performs them. To be effective, competitive strategy must align and integrate three key dimensions of business capability – sales, marketing and competitive assets.
A competitive asset is something owned or controlled by a company that produces value by generating cash flow, reducing expenses or improving sales. Competitive assets take many forms – information, data, training, systems, processes – and they need to be recognised and managed for the value they create.
The role of business leaders is critical as only they have the span of authority to coordinate resources to create and maintain the competitive assets that underpin revenue, margin and market share growth.
By properly aligning competitive assets, marketing and sales you can expect:
- Increased inbound contacts
- Better qualified prospects
- Increased proposal count
- Less price-based buying
- Faster sales cycles
Our process is led by research. Objective independent research is perhaps the single most important step to arriving at a sustainable competitive advantage. The purpose of research is to provide the evidence base to guide informed competitive strategy decisions.
EvettField assemble the fact base, work with business leaders to construct the competitive strategy and, as necessary, support implementation activities that will accelerate revenue , margin and market share growth and deliver materially enhanced enterprise value.
So, does it work?
We invite you to spend a few minutes and watch our videos where partner Michael Field discusses research, strategy development and implementation, and the results that we’ve achieved for some of our clients.