SME Competitive Advantage - Whats yours?
Michael Collett
Business Growth Advisor, Business Strategy, Decarbonisation, Procurement Specialist, BSI Associate Consultant, Associate Partner NQA
Many SMEs are losing the edge, the things that got them started will not always be the things that as they grow can be maintained to continue to deliver there competitive advantage.
Competitive advantage is not about how good you are but about whether you're faster, better, or cheaper than competitors in your particular market or is it? For all businesses but particularly for SMEs competitive advantage is dynamic; an advantage you have today may not be an advantage tomorrow. As an SME owner, have you ever sat down and thought; just what is your competitive advantage? What sets you apart? Probably not!
A competitive advantage enables a business or company to operate in a more efficient, better or different way than the companies they compete with.
Delivering a sustainable competitive advantage is challenging, identifying what you do that others will find harder to copy or replicate is key. A competitive advantage from the installation of the latest technology that improves productivity or reduces costs sounds like a great advantage. But it might not be a sustainable competitive advantage as competitors can and probably will implement the same technology, eliminating the competitive advantage (or imagine they could even implement a better technology increasing productivity or reducing costs even more).
A sustainable competitive advantage comes by implementing or creating an advantage that cannot be replicated or at least easily - for example a product or design linked with experience or a specific type of service.
One very important area that can be your sustainable advantage is your #culture, unique to you and your business. Establishing a culture you believe in means having a clear and consistent vision (and living it) knowing how you'd like everyone, inside and outside, to view the company. It's the people in a business that more often than not will make a business successful and give you the greatest opportunity to create a sustainable advantage. The more that you can include people in the operation of the business the more significant that contributions are made by employees, and the more that they effect the customer, the greater the customer engagement and the stronger your cultural differentiation can be. Your business is built around you and the people producing products and providing services for other people, your opportunity to create a unique sustainable advantage lies with you. Think about how you can develop a culture (#coaching, #mentoring and clear #leadership styles) to help you create your sustainable competitive advantage. Go #RaiseTheBar for #culture and competitive advantage .
"Ett v?l utf?rt arbete ger en inre tillfredsst?llelse och ?r den grund p? vilket samh?llet vilar". Fr?ga mig om betaltj?nster f?r folkr?relse och f?reningsliv.
6 年Thanks Michael, excellent insights, I especially appreciated the last part about the importance of establishing a culture in every SME. I've heard it before but never seen it explained so well in so few words.
Regional Director with The Marketing Centre - Proven Marketing Leaders. Real Business Results. | Fractional CMO | LinkedIn Strategist | A.I. Advocate | Fellow of Chartered Institute of Marketing
6 年Decent read that Michael, I have always had an interest in CA after reading Senge’s Fifth Discipline where he talks about an organisations only sustainable CA being its ability to learn faster than your competitors. Still holds true and resonates with me today but in many SME’s they find it difficult to take the time (not the effort as they are already working bloody hard) to learn new stuff. Shame really!