Deciding your ground.
WHAT THE CHOICE INVOLVES
Which customers Which products or services Which geography Which channels
WHY IT IS A CHOICE
Resources are limited, and spreading them thinly serves nobody.
WHAT TO ASSESS FOR EACH OPTION
Size of the opportunity Whether you can serve it well Who else is there What it would cost to enter Whether it is growing
WHY GROWTH MATTERS
Winning share in a growing market is easier than taking it in a shrinking one.
WHAT TO AVOID
Markets dominated by well-resourced competitors who can respond Markets where you have no advantage Markets you do not understand
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Customers others are ignoring Needs served badly Segments too small for larger competitors Geographies others do not cover
WHY SMALL SEGMENTS
They are frequently profitable and uncontested.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
Whether the segment is large enough for your business.
WHAT TO CALCULATE
How many customers you need, and whether they exist.
WHAT TO DECIDE EXPLICITLY
What you will not pursue.
WHY EXPLICITLY
Unstated exclusions are ignored, and the business drifts back.
WHAT TO WRITE DOWN
The choice, and the reasoning.
WHY THE REASONING
It lets you revisit the decision when circumstances change.
WHAT TO REVIEW
Whether the choice is producing results.
