What Are Core Competencies for Business?
There are distinguishing qualities your business has that are related to core competencies, and when you properly identify and act upon these features, your business can thrive. Find out more about core competencies in the highlights of this helpful article I came across online:
What strategic advantages does your business have over the competition? Find out what core competencies are and how to identify them.
- Business core competencies are your company's unique abilities, products and services that give it a competitive advantage in your industry and market.
- Personal core competencies are akin to the skills you search for on résumés when hiring new employees for your company.
- There are viable strategies for identifying your core competencies and acting on them, but you should be careful not to misidentify your core competencies.
- This article is for business owners who are looking to learn what core competencies are and how to define their company's core competencies.
What are core competencies?
Core competencies are the defining products, services, skills and capabilities that give a business advantages over its competitors. Put another way, business core competencies are competitive advantages that no competitor can reasonably offer or replicate.
Identifying your company's core competencies – including its core products and most compelling competitive advantages – is an important business strategy for proving your value to both new and longtime customers. When you know your business's core competencies, you can better forge a strong reputation for your business, market it and grow it by obtaining new customers.
Examples of core competencies in business
When you first read the definition of core competencies above, you might have wondered which of your products or services you could include among your core competencies. If you weren't immediately able to identify any, that's OK – core competencies can also be skills and abilities. We'll get into some real-life examples of business core competencies that aren't products and services in just a bit, but first, here's a list of common core competencies:
- Consistently high quality
- Incomparable value
- Ceaseless innovation
- Clever, successful marketing
- Great customer service
- Formidable size and buying power
How to identify your business core competencies
Let's turn back to the aforementioned examples of business core competencies. You'll recall that all of these examples involved large businesses.
1. Look at your customers and clients.
Does your business cater to a specific group of customers or type of business within your industry? For example, some people with IT degrees go on to work with students with special needs whose electronic educational materials must be modified to lessen the learning challenges they may face. A core competency of a company with a strong reputation for providing these services might be a special focus on working with clients with disabilities.
2. Turn to your company's mission statement.
Did you launch your company to address a gap that none of your competitors have filled? Look at your mission statement to remember why and for whom you launched your business – one of your core competencies is providing that product or service to that client base.
3. Discuss your core competencies with your team.
Ask your employees what they think your company does especially well, both compared with its competitors and in general. Then, take their answers and compare them with yours. The overlap can point you to your core competencies. For example, if you run a restaurant and want to figure out how to survive as the industry struggles, meet with your team to identify your most sought-after meals and cuisines, and then jot those down as your potential core competencies.
Want to know more? Head on over to the full article here for more ideas and perspective. Afterwards, why not drop me an email to share your thoughts at [email protected]; or call me on 0467 749 378.
Thanks,
Robert