Creating a Valuable Business

4. Marketing

4.1 Aim for market leadership.

• Greater market share can create a virtuous circle, with increasing turnover providing economies of scale and high visibility, making it easier to win more customers.It also makes it easier to attract and retain employees.
• No matter how small, any business has the potential to differentiate itself from its competitors and become the market leader in a defined niche.

4.2 Create a brand which captures the essence of your business.

What does your product or service offer that sets it apart from those of your competitors? This is your unique selling proposition (USP), and is the basis of successful branding.

• A brand helps you maintain the important ingredients of your business as you grow.
• A brand helps you interest existing customers in new products.
• A powerful brand can be extended as you diversify (eg Virgin).

4.3 You may be able to grow by changing your market positioning. For example:

• A hotel might grow by moving upmarket, gradually improving its facilities, standards and prices.
• A specialist engineering business might grow by moving downmarket, developing cheaper, mass-market versions of its market-leading products.

4.4 Above-average profitability and growth usually attracts fierce competition.

• Protect your market with strong customer relationships.
• Protect any intellectual property that helps you ward off competition.
• Use market research to keep in touch with your customers' needs.
• Continue to innovate and avoid any kind of complacency.