Entrepreneurial strategies 1.

Fight with all the resources This is the way in which the generals explain their victories: within this strategy, the entrepreneur tends toward supremacy, and even toward the domination of the new markets of industries. This does not mean to create a big business immediately, even though, this is the goal. But the entrepreneur tends to be the best, the leader of the industry even from the beginning. This strategy is considered par excellence. But this strategy is not the dominant one, having the most success rate or implying the smallest risksnot even far! This is the most unpredictable strategy, it is very cruel and there are not allowed any mistakes There isn!t a second chance o, there is a very risky strategy, but if it succeed, the results are remarkable. !t has to strike directly to the target, otherwise everything is lost. Real life examples "or many years, "o##mann$%a &oche from wit#erland, was the most known, the biggest and probably the most profitable pharmaceutical businesses. The beginnings of the firm are modest: since $%&' the company was producing textile paints, on that market existing many big (erman and wiss producers. The first time the firm applied the )fight with all the resources* strategy, was when the vitamins were discovered and they had bought the production license, considering that then, the scientist were not accepting the vitamins. o none wanting to produce the vitamins, except for +offman,-a .oche! The firm employed few researchers from /urich university, offering them twice as they were earning as professors, higher than any salary offered in the industry, and invested all the money that they had and all the money that they had borrowed for producing and selling this product. 0fter sixty years, the firm had the largest market share 1 the leader of the market ! The second time for the firm when applied this strategy was in 234 when they entered the sulfur based medicines market 1 even though most of scientific researchers )knew* that these medicines could not prevent infections. The third time the firm applied the strategy was in 2'4 when they entered the muscular tran5uili#er 1 -ibrium and 6alium, both considered at that time heretical and incompatible with all what the scientists knew. '. "it where there is nothing else This strategy has two options: 7 (reative imitation The name of this strategy contains a contradiction: what is creative must be original, but the imitation is not creative. Though, the two terms are associated to describe the following situation: The entrepreneur does what had already been done, but what he does is creative because he understands that the innovation is better that what was done before, so he improves what had already been done. )ust as the previous strategy, creative imitation aspire toward the leading o# the market or an industry, maybe even dominating them, but it is less more risky. 8f course the initial innovator may close the competitors9 possibility to enter the market 1 like

the case of +ofmann,-a .oche 1 but the number of entrepreneurs engaged in creative imitation and their actual success are indicators of the fact that the risk that the first innovator occupies the market from the begging is very low. Real life examples The most known example is *+,. The firm had developed during 934 a rapid calculus machine for the use of astronomic calculus in the :olumbia ;niversity from <ew =ork. "ew years later, they had developed another machine, like a computer, designed also for astronomic calculus, but for +arvard ;niversity. 0t the end of the world war two, !B> developed a computer, a real one, the firs with )memory* and being )programmable*. ?ven though, there few people knowing that !B> had developed the first computer ever, because the firm had abandoned the pro@ect after presenting it to <ew,=orkers. They had instead used another pro@ect, one of developed by Aennsylvania ;niversity, called ?<!0:. The scientific researchers from the university had designed a computer very useful to be used within a firm to calculate the salaries, but they did not see this utility. !B> had restructured the ?<!0: computer to regular mathematical operations. Bhen they have presented this computer to the public, the commercial, multifunctional for public use computer was born. -o, this is (reative imitation. the entrepreneur waits #or someone to invent something new, but approximately, than he/she starts the activity, and during a short period o# time, there is something really new, to satis#y the clients, to correspond to the re0uests. Thus, )creative imitation* establishes the standard productCservice and establishes the market for itself. Real life example Bhen the semiconductors entered the market, in watches industry it was known that they may be used to make the watches more exactly, better and cheaper. The wiss bought immediately a 5uarts watch but, as they had invested a lot in conventional, traditional watch industry, had decided to enter the products step by step, in a longer period of time that would have been allowed them to be known as luxury products. "attori :ompany from Dapan was producing for a long time conventional watches for Dapanese market. !s saw the opportunity and appealed to creative imitation, creating a 5uart watch that was introduced on the market as a standard chronometer. "or the wiss producers was too late. eiko watches were already asked by the customers and almost eliminating the wiss watches from the market. 7 Entrepreneurial 1udo The strategy implies first of all the occupation of the )head of the bridge* of an industry or market 1 a )bridge* that is poorly or at all defended , and afterwards, based on the incomes made by then, occupying the )bridge* and then the whole region. This strategy is the less risky o# all and has the highest chances o# success, especially #or obtaining the supremacy or domination o# an industry or market. Real life example !n $%EF Bell -aboratories invented the transistor and everybody agree that it will replace the classical lamps for T6s and radios. ?verybody knew but nobody did anything. The big firms from ; 0 had studied the transistor and they had anticipated that they would use it by $%F4. They said that by then )it won9t be 5uite ready to be used*G! -ony was neither a known beyond the borders of Dapan nor a producer of electronics for consumers. .eading in the papers about the existence of the transistor, the president of

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ony, 0kio >orita, left in ; 0 to buy the license from Bell -aboratories to produce the transistors for the ridiculous amount of &'444H. Two years later, ony dominated the produced the first portable transistor light weighted and with a smaller price than the existing one. Three years later, ony was leader on 0merican market for cheap radios, and five years later a world leader. The strategy is thus the one of inventing new markets, as 0kio >orita did, and the one of accepting the unexpected success. The ony example was the first for )entrepreneurial @udo*: it was followed by the car producers 1 Toyota, u#uki 1 that were producing only bicycles in 2E4 , and then by "u@i, Aanasonic and others. 2. Find and occupy a niche This strategy is the one of obtaining the monopoly, the control for a certain limited region. There are many options for this strategy: 7 the barrier strategy

*t means occupying a position on the market with a product or a service that are indispensable #or another product or service having a market niche or a price too small to be competed. !t is the case of 3%(45 6 an en#yme used in ophthalmologic surgeries 1 that has a ridiculous price compared with the one of the operation. 8ther examples would be the ones of some small markets: anti explosive disposal for the petroleum extraction and the )rubber* for the @ars. 7 0uali#ication in specialty

*t means concentrating over a certain product and improving it at a level that make the product uni0ue, without any competition using a long, success#ul collaboration relationship. 0part from the )barrier strategy*, the niche for this type of companies is large and uni5ue, developed through class speciali#ation. !t is the case of electric systems for cars: Bosch and Iaimler Ben# J(ermanyK is a partnership stating from $LL', or Ielco and (eneral >otors J; 0K. !n a new industry, technology or market, rapidly changing and expanding, it is the most successful strategy. !f the business enters the niche and maintains the position, the strategy protects the business from competition. 6ery few car producers from 9&4 are still on the market, but the producers of electric systems for cars are still there, @ust because the customers does not and know and does not care about the producer of the electric systems. 7 specialty market

The difference between the 5ualification in specialty and specialty market is that the first is concerned with the product and the second is concerned with the knowledge about a market. 8therwise they are very similar. o, this is the strategy o# concentrating on a certain market with a special product. "or years, an ?nglish company was the leader of the market for automatic ovens for the use of the bakeries in non,communists countries from ?urope. Their success was based on

the fact that they understood that the process of bakery was passing from the house to the firms, and they studied what the bakers needed to cook, in terms of ovens. This niche strategy, as the previous one, consists o# analy7ing the new trend, industry or market8 using a speci#ic innovation 6 even i# this is only a new road, as was the above case. 2. (hange the economic characteristics o# a product, a market or industry The most known option for this strategy is called utility #or the customer. *t is the strategy consisting o# reinventing an old product or service. Real life example The postal service was invented in $L3M by .owland +ill, but the .omans had had a )postal service* very efficient with rapid messengers. ?ven though, .owland +ill invented the modern postal service: before his reinvention of the service, every letter was paid by the receiver, the tax being different for different weight and distances, and needed to be weighted. These aspects were making the postal service very slow and expensive. +ill had actually proposed a unitary postal service for ;N, no matter the distance, being used a stamp, thus the letters could have been left in a postal box. For this strategy, the price is usually insigni#icant, but it o##ers the customers the possibility to obtain something that actually serves their interest and have utility #or them. *t does not need a sophisticated technology, but only concentrating over the customers needs. Real life example Iuring 9M4 every 0merican bide secretly dreamed of )real :hina*, this being though a very expensive gift, ending by receiving pieces that she already had or some ordinary gifts. o, there were re5uests, but the utility was missing. %enox (hina (ompany, a medium si#ed :hina producer, saw an opportunity to reinvent the old )wedding catalogue*, but only with -enox :hinas The future bride was choosing a seller, communicating him the name of the guests. The seller was asking then the guests how much they wanted to spend on the wedding gift and, in the same time, saying: )The amount you9re telling me about represents two cups for coffee* or he can inform the guest that the bride already have all the cups and needs dessert plates. The results are a happy bride and a )happy* company.

9:T&;5<E&E3 9E 4 9*3: 54;: Ie#voltarea Oi lansarea noilor produse Oi servicii PNotler, $%LLQ
20%

Nou n producia
10%

Noi n domeniu Revizuit 26% e

Nivel nalt

mondial Adugate celor existente n domeniu

54;T3TE ?5 F*&,:

26%

11%

7%

Repoziionate

Costuri reduse

Nivel sczut
54;T3TE 9E 9*3>:

Nivel sczut

Nivel nalt

Prima selecie a ideilor

100 idei

3nali7= #inanciar= Dezvoltare de prototipuri Testare n producie Comercializare

32 idei 10 idei

4 idei

1 idee!

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Am defini pia@a ca fiind totalitatea cumprtorilor actuali Oi a celor potenRiali, pentru un anumit produs sau serviciu.

Total populaie (100%

Piaa potenial (14%)

S9ia@aS pe care o estimTm este constituitT tocmai din unii dintre aceti clieni poteniali. :lienRi care au interese personale, venituri diferite Oi, mai ales, posibilitTRi foarte variate de acces la locurile de distribuRie a produselor sau serviciilor. 0ceasta este 9ia@a poten@ial=. 9ia@a poten@ial=, definitT anterior, se reduce succesiv: 7 unii consumatori ar dori un produs sau serviciu, dar nu au banii necesariU 7 din cei care au Oi dorinRT Oi au Oi banii, unii nu au acces direct la SterminaleleS reRelei de distribuRie Oi renunRT. :eea ce a rTmas se numeOte pia@= disponibil=. Iintre persoanele care alcTtuiesc piaa disponibilT unii nu Vndeplinesc condiRiile legale! :ei rTmai alcTtuiesc piaa disponibil= cali#icat=. "irma va alege: VOi va concentra eforturile asupra pieRei disponibile calificate sau va alege un singur segment din aceasta Jselectat dupT vWrstT, dupT venituri sau dupT alte criterii, unice sau agregatK. 0ceasta este pia@a $ @int=.

Piaa disponi"il! (42% Piaa potenial! (100% Piaa $ int! (21% Piaa disponi"il! Piaa penetrat! (7% cali#icat! (33%

Concentrarea firmei pe un singur segment de pia @

Q P R

n aceast categorie intr, spre exemplu, o firm care dispune , ntr-o zon, de dou unitRi tip fast-food, plasate n puncte-cheie staRia !"#$% Oi autogar.

Specializare pe produs/serviciu (pe n pie@e)

% P &

&n exemplu poate fi acela al unei firme care deRine hoteluri de trei stele, cu servicii clasice, n mai multe centre importante. #lien Rii si sunt din toate categoriile sociale Oi de toate v'rstele( singurele limitri pot veni din zona tarifelor mai greu accesi)ile pentru anumite categorii. !erviciile oferite sunt la nivelul de clasificare o)Rinut Oi sunt destul de diversificate.

% P &

Specializare pe toate segmentele unei singure pie@e

% P &

Specializare selectiv (pe n pie@e)

$irma realizeaz o gam larg de produse Oi*sau servicii Oi Oi alege, de pe diferite pieRe, c'te un segment de consumatori + cel mai atractiv pentru un anumit produs sau serviciu.

% P &

coperirea !n totalitate a pie@elor

,ste o strategie ce nu poate fi asigurat dec't de marile firme.