28/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

Recently I have spoken many times of the need for an innovative approach to the value proposition and the need for differentiation.

Today I ask you to consider the role that alliances and partnerships can provide in developing that differentiation. Careful selection of partners can provide a quick and inexpensive way of expanding the range of products and services offered and has the potential to simplify (translated as reduced cost) the customers purchasing process.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that such an approach provides a real competitive advantage by providing cost and convenience benefit.

Customer knowledge, together with a willingness to share benefits is key, but in these hard times I urge you all to consider adopting such a strategy

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

Posted in Alliances, Innovation, Business Strategy | Print | No Comments »

26/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

As many businesses struggle against the deepening recession, it may be a good time for small business owners to reflect and return to basics.

Consider the following

1. Why you originally started the business?
2. What enabled you to do so? 
3. Why were you successful?

It is a pretty safe bet that ambition, drive and passion figured prominently in the answers to 1

A set of competencies complemented by financial funding factor heavily in 2

A unique product or service (value proposition) would have been the key driver to 3

No once again consider the questions , but this time focus on what may have changed.

1. Are you still driving the business with the same amount of passion, do you still have ambition?
2. Have the skills, processes and technologies (competencies) been developed to keep you ahead of the competition?
3. Does the value proposition still hold true with customers, does it still provide differentiation?

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that to stand still is to step backwards. Competitors will always be trying to gain market share at your expense. We believe it is therefore vital that a company continually asks itself these three simple questions.

 As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral strategy Development Ltd

Posted in Innovation, Business Strategy, Competencies | Print | No Comments »

20/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

I have spoken in the past of the importance of having a ‘green’ strategy, not only for regulatory compliance, but also for growth. In the current climate we at Balmoral Strategy Development Limited believe that most businesses can add an element of ‘green’ to their value propositions and that doing so can provide real differentiation.

 Here is a quick simple process that I urge you all to consider

• Take a look at the products/services that you provide, the need that they serve and the effects they have, both good and bad on the environment.
• Now try some idea generation, focus on reducing the bad and increasing the good.
• Articulate your new value proposition
• Access funding opportunities related to ‘green’
• Developing a marketing campaign and lever your new environmental credentials.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

Posted in Innovation, Trends, Business Strategy, Environment | Print | No Comments »

19/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

Post Christmas I conducted an informal survey amongst friends, colleagues ect. The main question was how much of your Christmas spend was online, as opposed to the high street. The figure averaged out at just under 70%. The highest being over 85% and the lowest just under 45%.

Of those I spoke with all, agreed that they are now buying more online than they did a year ago.

When asked why the 3 main reasons given were:

1. Convenience
2. Choice
3. Price

In the current climate the High Street has a lot to think about, but at Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that first and foremost retailers should look at their value proposition, followed closely by an examination of their brand.

In an effort to compete against the online providers many retailers have become distanced from the customer base and have lost sight of what made them successful in the first place. Cutbacks in training and reduced stock inventories levels are having damaging effect and many can no longer provide the feelgood factor, which is a key part of customer experience.

It is our view that retailers need to look beyond the product and refocus on brand strengthening based upon associated service.

In other words provide a value proposition that once again provides an outstanding customer experience.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe , Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited 

Posted in Business Strategy | Print | No Comments »

15/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

We all know the traditional methods of segmenting markets, that is by customer buying behaviour. Quite often many companies fall short due to a lack of hard market data and as a result most fall back into a standardised industry segmentation used by everyone, that ultimately provides no new insight and white-space.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we look beyond the obvious. We take into account developing trends and emerging needs to project possible buying behaviours of the future. With this approach we create new market segments that cut across many products, services and geographies.

The insights gained in effect redefine the market, provide the company with a direction and early mover competitive advantage.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited 

Posted in Competitive Advantage, Innovation, Strategy Process, Trends, Customer Insight, Business Strategy | Print | No Comments »

12/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

When a company is launched it has a set of skills, processes, technologies that allow it to compete in its chosen market.  These combined are deemed core competencies and help define the company. Core competencies provide competitive advantage and their importance cannot be overstated.

Successful companies have long recognised the importance of developing competencies to meet market needs. however very few actually formalise a process of competency management.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that competency primarily resides in people and define competency management as the co ordinated development and alignment of people expectations to company needs. Further in-line with competency development we argue that companies that can dynamically realign or recenter around a new core competencies, will maintain ongoing competitive advantage.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral Strategy Development 

Posted in Strategy Process, Business Strategy, Competencies | Print | No Comments »

08/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

Orthodoxies exist because at some point the process/service/product that they represented made sense.  The problems start when Orthodoxies become so embedded that they are no longer questioned and innovation is stifled.

When this happens companies face 2 major issues

1. Internal business systems and processes become inefficient and become financial and resource drains.
2. The value proposition associated with the products and services that the company offers no longer meet the needs of its customers.

 At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we urge all companies to setup a process and work-group that is mandated with:

1. Identifying orthodoxies and analysing the impact that they have on the business.
2. Challenging those orthodoxies and developing innovative alternatives.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe , Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

Posted in Innovation, Strategy Process, Orthodoxies, Business Strategy | Print | No Comments »

06/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

Switch on the news and all we seem to hear are the negative things. News editors seem to revel in sensationalising and exaggerating negative news.

We have to be careful in such an environment that stories of a long deep depression do not become self fulfilling prophecies. There is no doubt that globally we are facing tough challenges , but we have faced tough challenges before and in the light of our new found global co operation there is no logical reason to belief that we cannot once again emerge stronger again.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that innovation is the key. Old thinking and tired business models need to be shaken off, together with last year’s products. Companies need to to look to their customers and develop products and services that will once again be must haves. Companies that do so will emerge stronger and become industry leaders.

As usual all comments welcome - Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

Posted in Innovation, Economy, Orthodoxies, Business Strategy | Print | No Comments »

01/01/2009 by Stephen Coe.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all readers of this blog a very happy and prosperous new year from Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

Stephen Coe Director , Balmoral Strategy Development Limited

Posted in Business Strategy | Print | No Comments »