Strategy: The art of saying no and making smart choices
Many managers imagine that strategy means having a long list of goals or trying to sell products to everyone. However, in the real world of competition, strategy means making choices. Choosing which segment of the market to serve and, more importantly, to which segment to say “no.” Without a clear strategy, your business is like a ship where the rowers are rowing with all their might, but because they lack a compass, they only spin in large circles around themselves.
The Great Lesson of IKEA
To better understand strategy, one only needs to look at the success model of IKEA. IKEA’s strategy is not merely “selling cheap furniture”; their strategy is the response to a specific need for a specific group: “young individuals who want to have a beautiful home but have a limited budget.”
IKEA has made difficult choices to create this value. They do not offer you free shipping or installation services (you transport and assemble the pieces yourself). Why? Because if they added these services, the product price would increase, and they could no longer remain loyal to their primary goal of being “affordable for the young demographic.” Every component of their business, from the design of foldable beds to the low-priced restaurants inside the stores, is designed with only one goal: supporting that initial choice. Strategy means that all the puzzle pieces of your business build only one single image.
Market Segmentation: You cannot be everyone's hero.
Market Segmentation: You cannot be everyone's hero.
Our first step is the effort to understand the market and intelligently select the “target market.” Many businesses waste their energy by trying to attract every type of customer. The truth is that not all customers are profitable for your business. In the first step, you must divide the market into precise segments.
Who is your ideal customer? What is their pain point? And why should they choose you among hundreds of competitors? When we know exactly who we are fighting for, all of your marketing expenses and team energy become purposeful.
Creating the Value Proposition: Why you?
After selecting the market, it is time to design the “value proposition.” This is the promise you make to the customer that your competitors cannot or will not replicate. Your value proposition should not be a pretty slogan; rather, it must create a “real difference” in the customer’s life or business.
We must find the answer to this difficult question: “If your business were removed from the market tomorrow, exactly what would your customers miss?” The answer to this question is the central core of your strategy.
Dena Wise: Strategy Design and Implementation
Dena Wise: Strategy Design and Implementation
The Dena Wise process in designing and implementing strategy for your business is simple yet very profound:
Analysis of the current situation: We examine where your organization’s energy is currently being spent and whether this path aligns with your financial goals or not.
Segmentation and targeting: We help you separate profitable customers from troublesome ones and focus on the segments that bring you the most growth.
Formulating the value statement: We extract the advantage that makes you stand out as distinct and authoritative in the market.
Executive roadmap: We transform the strategy into small, executable projects so your team knows exactly what steps to take every day.
Having a strategy means moving from “being busy” to “being effective.”