09/09/2009 by Stephen Coe.

So your company has weathered the storm and thoughts are once again turning towards growth. Even though we are told the worst of the recession is over, growth is likely to remain very slow for the next 18 months. This may make CEO’s look towards M&A as a way of growing the company and satisfying their brow beaten shareholders.

Acquisitions can provide a quick fix, but at Balmoral Strategy Development we would caution against knee jerk action. M&A seldom delivers the benefits claimed when the idea is first mooted.

At Balmoral Strategy Development , we argue that M&A is merely one option to deliver a previously developed long term strategy. Opportunistic M&A is fraught with danger, often the claimed increase in market share and internal efficiency can be gained in other far less risky ways.

A mistake many make is that they focus almost exclusively on balance sheet synergies and fail to pay the necessary attention to issues surrounding company culture. Culture merging is the most difficult to achieve and we believe that it is the single most important reason that a large number of M&A’s fail to deliver. 

In summary we firmly advocate that a validated strategy must come first and that M&A is considered as one of several ways of delivering that strategy.

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

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23/06/2009 by Stephen Coe.

Politicians, business leaders and commentators are now speaking of green shoots  and of being over the worst of the recession. Whether that is true is yet unclear, but what is certainly true is that time will wait for no one and delay in planning  for the future upturn, could well prove to be very costly in the long term.

Reluctance to commit to a new strategy at this time is understandable, many business leaders will feel that it is too soon and far too risky. At Balmoral Strategy Development we feel that that there is far greater risk in delay.

So how do we address the issue of risk? The Balmoral Strategy approach borrows from a process used in engineering called failure mode effects analysis or FMEA for short. This approach attempts to quantify risk in terms of impact and likelihood. Having determined the major risks mitigation plans can then be developed that minimise both the likelihood and impact.

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

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03/04/2009 by Stephen Coe.

History provides indisputable evidence that companies with strong forward looking strategies emerge from a recession in a much better position than those that merely work to survive.

Yes times are tough, costs need to be cut. But at Balmoral Strategy Development we believe that companies with forward looking strategies have the potential to redefine their futures.

We urge everyone to cast aside the status quo and orthodoxy ,to be bold, ambitious and act now.

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15/03/2009 by Stephen Coe.

While it is easy and convenient to blame the bankers for all our woes, we should remember that we have all benefitted to some degree from the cheap source of credit that they provided. The problem is that we have beocome addicted to living off of that credit and now that it has been taken away it hurts. We need to be weaned off, but the rapid contraction of credit has meant that for many it is a case of cold turkey.

The US and UK are the leading protagonists for pumping money into the system, but the G20 may be wise to listen to some of the more cautious. The tools being employed are blunt instruments and it is very likely that unless caution is exercised we will be facing inflation problems in 3 years time. They also do not tackle the fundamental problem of getting us, the general public back to a more Victorian mentality, kick the I want it now credit fix and to start living within our means.

Maybe cold turkey is the pain that we must go through to get there.

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

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25/02/2009 by Stephen Coe.

It is so very easy to get sucked into the general malaise that is sweeping around the world. The media sensationalize and exaggerate every piece of bad news and pretty soon it seems that there is no way out.

My advice is this.

Stop and ask yourself are the reasons why you started the business still current and relevant?

If so then the vision remains alive, it is only the method of achieving it that may need to be changed. That is nothing new, even in successful times companies constantly test, tweak and modify their strategies to meet changing customer needs.

The difference in a downturn is that we may need to make more significant changes, however if the vision remains true, then the end goal is still achievable.

As I have been saying for the last few months, the economic downturn presents opportunities for the bold to redefine not only their businesses, but also their markets and to instigate a ‘new world order’.

We at Balmoral Strategy Development Limited urge everyone to take the opportunity before them, to develop bold innovative value propositions and to put the wheels in motion, which will deliver significant growth over the coming years.

The time for action is now, being positive is the first step to making the vision a reality.

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

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11/02/2009 by Stephen Coe.

As we reflect on the worsening economic situation and the calling to account of banking executives, it is all too easy to become blinkered. That is to say blame the banks for everything that is wrong today. Please do not get me wrong I am no bank apologist, but it does make me cringe when I hear everyone with a failing business blaming the credit crunch for their woes.

The fact is, that despite what some politicians say to the contrary, all economies have a natural cycle. So businesses need to be prepared to accept the hard times along with the good. The problem is we they became lulled and detached from this most basic economic fact, by a unusually long period of sustained growth. They believed because they wanted to believe the hype related to the end of boom and bust. The consequence of all of this is that many businesses grew complacent, failed to innovate and adequately manage their cash-flow. To put it simply they forgot the advice from grandma and failed to put aside cash for a rainy day.

No we hear complaints because banks will not extend their overdrafts. The simple fact is that businesses going bust in an economic downturn is another basic economic fact.

Consider this

Many businesses that start up during the growth phase, often do so without any real differentiation in their value proposition. They survive and may even thrive, because of the growth in demand. A case in point are the many new eateries that have sprung up over the last 5 years. With more disposable income, these restaurants filled a need as people ate out more often, some maybe 3 or 4 times a week. These same businesses only survived because of this usually high demand. History shows that it was only a matter of time before more normal behaviour returned and now we find that these same restaurants are now empty most nights of the week and are making significant losses. Plainly no amount of credit from a bank will rescue them. Their real problem is not cash-flow, but an unsustainable business model.

Another example are businesses that failed to innovate during the growth phase, content to rely on dated products and services. They would argue that business was holding up well and so they did not feel the need to develop new value propositions.

At Balmoral strategy Development Limited we believe that without differentiation there is now long term future for any business. Yes in a growth phase it is possible to gain market share due to shortfalls in capacity of incumbents, but in the long term it is a differentiated value proposition tht wins the day.

It is for this reason that we place Innovation and Differentiation at the centre of all of our strategy processes.

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

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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

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30/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

As we come to the end of the year and personal thoughts turn to new year resolutions, I would urge you to consider the same for your business.

Over the last few weeks I have spoken of the need for a business to have its value proposition aligned to customer needs and to embed a process that promotes innovation.

The last weeks of the year offer several examples of businesses who have failed to do just that. Businesses that grew fat on the good times and who failed to recognise changing customer needs.

Challenging times represent opportunities for the bold and innovative. There is an old saying that to stand still is to fall back , we at Balmoral Strategy Development believe that to be particularly relevant in times of economic downtown.

History has shown that recessions provide opportunities for innovators to overturn orthodoxies and established orders and that even market leaders are vulnerable if they fail to meet the new challenges.

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

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24/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

First of all I would like to extend Season’s Greetings to all readers of this blog, I wish you all well.

As we approach the end of the year, I would like to ask those in retail to consider this. As you reflect on what has been a extremely difficult last quarter, take some time to understand what exactly has sold and what has not. Do this not from a product viewpoint, but from the service or need that the product provides.

At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited we believe that understanding these customer needs is the first step towards shaping a business model, which provides significant competitive advantage.

So make it a new years resolution to look at your sales figures in this way and we are sure that new opportunities will be revealed.

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

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15/12/2008 by Stephen Coe.

Will the Christmas season mark the ‘tipping point’ for the High Street as we have come to know it? At Balmoral Strategy Development Limited, we believe that for a number retail segments that may in fact be the case.

In many sectors the Internet is finally delivering on the promises of the late 90’s. In areas such as home entertainment and white goods it is possible within 15 minutes to read product reviews, establish what’s on offer, select your retailer and arrange delivery, confident in the knowledge that that you have made an informed choice and got a good price.

Contrast this to the experience of visiting a city centre store.

• Traffic congestion particularly at the weekend
• Parking costs, which are often exorbitant
• Limited choice, often only demonstration stock, items need to be ordered
• Price generally more expensive than online.
• Precious leisure/family time lost

Many high street retailers have quite simply lost their way, in some cases their ‘brand’ has been diminished to a point where most the consumer no longer understands what the company represents. They have made token efforts at modernisation, by offering their own online sales, but fundamentally they are still pursuing a 19th century business model.

For companies in these segments, the challenge is to offer a value proposition goes beyond price, differentiates them from the Internet box shifters and re establishes a ‘brand’ identity.

For some it may be that the time has passed , but for many there is still an opportunityif they are; bold in approach, caste off ‘Orthodoxy’ and embrace ‘Innovation’

As usual all comments welcome, Stephen Coe, Director Balmoral strategy Development Limited.

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