You’re In Business War Whether You Know It Or Not (Part 1)

“I have studied the enemy all my life.  I have read the memoirs of his generals and his leaders.  I have even read his philosophers and listened to his music.  I have studied in detail the account of every damned one of his battles.  I know exactly how he’ll react under any given set of circumstances.  And he hasn’t the slightest idea what I’m going to do.  So when the time comes, I’m going to whip the hell out of him.”

General George S. Patton

What makes the difference between a winning general and a losing general?  The winning general has the strategies to enable him to outthink, out-plan, and outmaneuver his foes, just as you have to outthink, out-plan, and outmaneuver your competitors in business.  The only difference between fighting a war and competing in business is the battlefield on which you compete.

Whether you realize it or not, everyone in business is engaged in “business war.”   Think about it.  Unless you sell a product or a service that has absolutely no competition, you and your competitors are vying for the same prize … customers.  The companies who have the better strategies and have the generals who can carry out these strategies are going to be the ones who are going to be more successful.

In short, business people have to learn to think like generals.

Before you can do any strategic planning, you have to have an objective … a foundation upon which you can build.  The foundation of every business is the exact same, regardless of what type of business you’re in or how large or small it is.

When you breakdown business into its most basic components it’s comprised of products, customers and markets; the foundation on which your business is built.  You can’t have a business without all three of these parts.  Determining what your foundation is presently composed of and what it should be composed of in the future is the very first stage of effective strategic planning.

Why did I say you have to determine who your present products, customers and markets are and then determine who you future products, customers, and markets should be?  Because you constantly have to analyze and assess if your present objectives should be the same as your future objectives.

For instance, external variables such as new inventions, demographic changes, new competitors, new suppliers, etc. could force you to have to change the foundation of your business by targeting different customers and markets or changing the scope of the products you offer.

Successful typewriter manufacturers correctly anticipated the future and developed word processing machines when the personal computers came out and made manual typewriters obsolete almost overnight.  They had to change their foundation and their business objectives, just as many businesses have to when a new Wal-Mart opens up.

Part 2 continued

Subscribe to our RSS feed via email.  You’ll receive an email automatically every time a new post is added! Subscribe to Best Business Tips & Software by Email

One Response to “ You’re In Business War Whether You Know It Or Not (Part 1) ”

Trackbacks

1. Knowledge is power in strategic planning