Assess your strategy today: how strong are your 7 Powers?

Hamilton Helmer's "7 Powers" refers to the seven key strategies or business models that companies can leverage to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. Hamilton Helmer is the Co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Strategy Capital , a lecturer at 美国斯坦福大学 and a former 贝恩公司 consultant.

The seven powers are:

1. Scale Economies: This means that as a business grows and produces more, its per-unit cost goes down. Big companies often have this power because they can spread out their fixed costs over larger units, making them more cost-efficient than their smaller competitors.
2. Network Economies: This refers to the effect where the value of a product or service increases as more people use it. A classic example of this is social media platforms; the more friends you have on a platform, the more valuable it becomes to you.
3. Counter-Positioning: A newcomer adopts a new, superior business model that the incumbent does not mimic due to anticipated damage to their existing business. An example is how Netflix, with its subscription model, counter-positioned against traditional video rental stores.
4. Switching Costs: This is when it's difficult or costly for customers to switch from one product to another. This could be due to monetary costs, time and effort, or any other inconvenience. Software products, for instance, might have high switching costs if users have to relearn a new system or migrate large amounts of data.
5. Branding: A strong brand can serve as a powerful moat. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for a brand they trust and recognize.
6. Cornered Resource: This is when a company has exclusive access to a valuable resource. This could be in the form of a patent, a unique location, a talented team, etc.
7. Process Power: When a company develops unique and superior methods of doing things that cannot be easily replicated by competitors. Over time, these processes can provide a sustainable competitive advantage.

According to Helmer, these powers can provide a long-term structural advantage to businesses that leverage them correctly. His book "7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy" delves deeper into each power, providing a framework for understanding the nuances of #competition and #strategy.

Thank you, Marcus Win , for this book recommendation!