Tool Box
Issue No. 10 - April/May 2003
What Business are you in?
by Bill Anschutz
One of the key questions for any organization is to have a clear understanding of what business they are in. The answer will define the business, the industry and the opportunities.
Those who address the question may find the answer continues to vary as a deeper understanding of the business and the environment grows.
For example: If a business creates websites and believes that the business it is in is "creating websites", they have not recognised their full role or the scope that creating websites offers.
The definition "creating websites" does little to explain the internal needs in structure, skills and attitudes. Nor does it address the needs and desires of the client or the opportunities to provide something that will add value to the consumers.
More thought may lead them to understand that they are in the business of creating images, profiles and impressions of their clients and what they offer.
A more thoughtful description of the business may be:
"We are in the business of enabling our clients to grow their business by communicating the benefits of their unique skills products and services to preferred clients, throughout the world".
We currently do this by:
- Positioning and leveraging our client's abilities to reach and access the opportunities of local and global markets and opportunities.
- Interpreting the client's business into an attractive visual format that will engage and inform the viewer and condense a complex business into a snapshot that portrays the essence of the client's business.
- Understanding the demographics, tastes, expectations, language and profile of preferred customers.
- Designing and incorporating processes for our clients to be able to market or sell their products or services and receive payment.
- Providing interactive response processes that are convenient and helpful to the client and their customers.
- Incorporating processes to protect them from fraud or...
