Clear Shadows
Strategy Winning in Ten YearsMove Business ConfidentlyCreating a Top 500
As an entrepreneur, your vision determines your ultimate achievement. Let’s consider an example.
I have a skilled chef, and by opening a restaurant, I can address the dining needs of a certain number of people. In a good year, this business might generate $1M in revenue. This represents the upper limit of this business.
Now, let’s take a different approach. I still have a skilled chef. I realize that many dishes can be prepared in advance or to the final step, allowing for quick serving during peak times, without compromising taste—such as dishes that require double frying or slow cooking. My chef makes delicious food but can only serve so many customers. There’s also a demand for takeout. So, I decide to have the chef precisely calculate the ingredients, and use an assembly line to process the dishes into semi-finished products that just need heating before serving, maintaining almost the same taste. With an assembly line, my production capacity exceeds what my own restaurant can consume. This concept is known as ready meals, which currently has a market of $143 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $205Billion by 2026. The top companies making billions every year. There is no limit of this business.
This example illustrates that, given the same resources, merely following the crowd inevitably leads to limitations. To achieve significant growth, you need to consider the overall industry landscape, future trends, industry cycles, data analysis, investment costs, and return curves. During this process, you will define your company’s vision (your ultimate goal), mission, values, and objectives. Once all these elements are established, you can create phased execution plans based on your current resources. This entire process might take five, ten years, or even longer, but if you achieve your goals, your returns could include becoming an industry leader and establishing a century-old enterprise.
Market research is inevitably the first step in developing any product or service. The methods vary depending on the research content, but the ultimate goal is to determine market size, user demographics, group distribution, media share, and more. There are many challenges in the process of market research, such as outdated information, questionable source credibility, and information overload. However, we have the solutions.
Once the data is collected, data analysis becomes crucial in determining the direction of the company. Have we understood the objective facts behind the changes in the numbers? What is the market size of the specific niche we are targeting? What pricing strategy do we need to adopt to achieve profitability? How are our SWOT and PEST analyses? What are the future trends? These are the kinds of questions we need to address.
Once our data analysis is complete, we need to determine the company’s direction without being swayed by short-term trends. We should pursue long-term returns. We must not switch to the low-end market just because of a temporary decline in consumer spending, nor should we aim to sell high-end products solely because they are currently yielding high profits. The allocation of resources across production, research, supply, and sales must align with the company’s long-term vision and strategic plan.
Once strategic goals are established, we may have multiple execution phases. However, the methods and objectives of each phase can vary significantly and may even undergo substantial changes. These changes can be due to shifts in policy, advancements in technology, or cultural changes. Our task is to adapt quickly and make swift adjustments based on the actual situation. This is especially true for industries related to technology; the advent of innovations like ChatGPT can completely transform numerous sectors. Keeping an eye on technological developments is essential for any type of enterprise.
