Who are your competitors?

It might seem a silly question, but do your know who your competitors are? If you are in retail you might list some shops on your high street or name your local supermarket chain. These provide some competition in that they sell goods and services that compete with yours. The trouble is you may have more competition than you think.

What exactly are you competing for? If you are a shop then you are competing for the money (or credit card) in some one's pocket. What else can they spend their finite resources on? If you are a pub then your customers could do any of the following:

• buy drink from the local supermarket
• go to the local bowling alley
• visit the local chip shop or pizza takeaway
• go to the gym

So the money can go to a number of places which may also be time or season dependent. The gym option may be number one just after Christmas or before the holiday season.

So you should think about:

• who else might be competing for the money in your customers pockets
• what factors might affect the spending patterns of customers
• what exactly are selling to your customers (and why)
• do you know everything about your customers
• can you sell anything different to your customers

This may lead you to other discussions regarding the direction of your business and where you intend it to be in the future (strategy in consultant speak). This may not have been on your 'to do' list for today but it just might help you ride out the recession.

The Slipping Point

Most readers will be familiar with, or have heard of Malcolm Gladwell's best selling business book 'The Tipping Point'. The author suggests that there is a point at which you need apply only a small effort to create an effect. This is rather like giving the final push to topple a large boulder or tipping a finely balanced set of scales. If only we could find this point, we could all save ourselves time and effort.

Once the tipping point is found then we, and our businesses will be beating the competition and lining our pockets with untold riches, right? Is there anything to stop us? Well, quite a lot actually. Take the simple case of sitting down on a chair. You see the chair, walk round to the front and then sit down. Did you check that the chair was still there or that it did not have a wobbly leg. Most of the time nothing will happen but what happens in the 1 in 100 or 1 in 1000 cases when a practical joker has removed the chair?

This is a somewhat simplified example but neatly illustrates the point that we must keep our wits about us at all times. Having created a strategy for the future we want it to succeed but how many of us do not keep watch? What is it exactly that we are watching for? This is where we come to The Slipping Point. If you were driving up a slippery slope or along an icy road it would be the place where you lost grip, where your forward momentum slowed, and where things just did not go as planned. What can be done about this?

• Ensure Management are 'Hands Ready' i.e. they are aware of what is going on but are not micro-managing or too eager to take control. This provides space to see the bigger picture.
• Do your employees work in teams? The more they do this, the more support they provide, the more knowledge is shared and the more flexible they are when confronted with challenges.
• Is there a desire to win or are you all there to pick up your pay cheques?
• Even if you have a desire to win, do you know how to win?
• Keep an eye on the external environment, competitors, customers and any other factors that could affect the economic landscape.
• Foster as many external relationships as you can. These provide information and can also be leveraged in times of need.
• Promote the right culture. Transparency and morale are often used but infrequently heeded. Lead by example and gain trust and you will be in good shape.
• Promote the concept of stretch, an environment in which your employees and management alike are challenged and allowed to learn.
• Get the best from your staff. This extends from what management actually 'do' to staff to encourage and motivate them as well as reward systems.

Pay attention to the above and you have a very good chance of executing that carefully crafted strategy and avoiding The Slipping Point.