Business Coaching

Michael Porter explains the Five Competitive Forces

I have written about Michael Porter and his famous Five Forces model for analysing the competitive forces which determine industry profitability before (Michael Porter Five Forces).

Now I have found a 13 minute video of Michael Porter explaining the ideas on video as he updated his seminal Harvard Business Review article The Five Competitive Forces Which Shape Strategy.

Customer Value Proposition Is It The Same As The USP?

Is the customer value proposition (CVP) just a new (and posher) way of saying unique selling proposition (USP) or is it something different?

There does seem some confusion on the Internet but for me they are different but connected concepts but before I explain how I see the customer value proposition and the USP fit together let's have a quick look at definitions.

5Cs Model - Five Levels of Competition

Today I introduce you to an idea I learnt in my MBA strategy course about the different levels of competitions - the 5 Cs Model of Competition.

It is easy to take competition for granted and not to recognise the subtle different forms that exist but in my How To Survive A Price War blog I showed that you could influence your competitors for better or worse.

The five Cs of Competition are:

Price Wars: How To Survive A Price War

I have experienced a number of price wars and seen the effect of others.

Each price war has been extremely damaging and the best way to survive a price war is do you best to stop it starting in the first place although sometimes, competitors are so stupid and behave so irrationally that a price war is inevitable.

Unfortunately the recession is increasing pressure on businesses to keep sales high and owners and managers can feel forced into cutting prices.

Why Do Price Wars Start?

Price wars start because:

Strategy Failure: Common Mistakes In Strategy

Strategy Failure - what causes strategies to fail and is it just down to some common mistakes in creating and implementing strategy?

The RBS bank has just posted the biggest loss in UK history after making a bad acquisition, Lloyds TSB has been forced to go cap in hand to the government after agreeing to merge with HBOS to help Gordon Brown "save the world" and retailers are lining up to be the next pre-pack administration.

These are all big businesses, professionally managed and I am sure that they all had elaborate business strategies.

So what causes strategy failure?

Economic Downturn & Business Strategy

The world's leading strategy guru is probably Michael Porter so I was excited to find this 13 minute video of Michael Porter talking about the economic downturn.   

Threat of Substitutes

Some months ago I started a series of articles examining Michael Porter's Five Forces Model of Industry Analysis and today I return to look at the threat of substitutes.

The issue of the threat of substitutes is always a factor which limits the profit potential of a market but in times of economic change, the threat accelerates sharply but also the opportunity to help lure new customers into your market also exists.

Tunnel Vision: Do You Suffer As An Entrepreneur?

Top marketing consultant Jay Abraham makes the distinction that many entrepreneurs suffer from tunnel vision when they should be practising funnel vision.

This is mistake nine in my series of common entrepreneurial mistakes.

What Is Tunnel Vision?

Strategic Objective: Make Your Business Work For You

One of my favourite ideas from the "E Myth Revisited" book by Michael Gerber is how you design your business to play its full role in your life.

First you have to start by taking a good look at what you personally want to achieve in your life and you do that in a process which Michael Gerber calls your Primary Aim and only then can you start to consider the role your business has in your life.

Have a Clear Vision Of The Future

I have been thinking about the mistakes that entrepreneurs can make and which holds back their business, reduces profit and causes much more stress than is necessary - a big factor is the lack of clear vision of the future.

This is the first of a series of blog postings and looks at the critical issue of where you want to take your business.

Your Exercise

I want you to close your eyes and try and imagine what your business will look like in a few years time if you carry on your current course.