M51GrowStrategy & Growth· Module 1
Competitive Strategy
The business competes on everything and wins on nothing in particular. Price becomes the only argument.
- Grow
- Start
- Strategy
- ~5 min · Worksheet
The business problem
Without a clear competitive position, businesses copy competitors, chase every opportunity and default to price competition. Resources are spread thin, and nothing about the business is hard to replicate.
Why it matters
Strategy is choosing where to compete and how to win — and what not to do. A clear position focuses investment and makes the business harder to copy.
What you will learn
- Define where the business competes: customers, products, geography
- Articulate how it wins: cost, differentiation or focus
- Identify capabilities that are hard to copy
- Decide what not to do
Core questions
- Why do our best customers choose us over alternatives?
- What do we do better than competitors, and is it hard to copy?
- Which markets or segments should we avoid?
- What would we stop doing if we were serious about our strategy?
Work through the module
CaseWhat is happening?
Commercial laundry, 40 people · Illustrative teaching case
A commercial laundry serves hotels, hospitals and households at similar prices. It competes with cheap informal operators on household work and loses money there. Analysis shows its advantage is reliability and hygiene standards valued by hospitals and hotels. It exits household work and invests in faster turnaround for institutional clients.
DecisionWhat does the leader need to decide?
Keep serving every segment, or focus on those where the business has an advantage?
FrameworkHow should they think about the problem?
Where to play, how to win
Choose the customers, offers and geographies to serve. Define the advantage — lower cost, better value or deep focus — and the capabilities and activities that deliver it. Strategy is a set of choices that reinforce each other.
ToolWhat can they use?
Strategy on a pageWorksheet
- Where we play: segments, offers, geography
- How we win: our advantage
- Capabilities that deliver it
- What we will not do
- Measures that show it is working
ApplicationHow does it apply to their business?
Apply it to your own business:
- Complete the strategy on a page
- Test it with three customers and your management team
- List what you would stop doing
ImplementationWhat changes?
What should change in the business:
- Communicate the strategy to the team
- Align budgets and priorities to it
- Stop at least one activity that doesn't fit
ReviewDid it work?
How to tell whether the change worked:
- Are resources going to the chosen priorities?
- Is margin improving in focus segments?
- Can staff explain why customers choose you?
After this module you should be able to decide
Keep serving every segment, or focus on those where the business has an advantage?
And leave with: A clear statement of where you compete and why you win.
Sequence · Strategy & Growth