Die Macht » Kim and Mauborgne highlight several examples

Lots of entrepreneurs start their businesses because of an interest or skill in delivering a service Cheap Jordan 1 Low , or because they want to monetize a hobby, or because of a desire to take control of their financial future. Unfortunately, acquiring customers (and then acquiring more customers) can be a challenge and one of the reasons that small businesses struggle with this is because of a lack of differentiation.

When a business looks too similar to its competitors, it is not differentiated enough and won't attract customers. Some entrepreneurs might feel Cheap Jordan 1 For Mens , "if it works for my competitors it will work for me", but this is a business-killing mindset because it destroys customer loyalty. If customers feel that they can get the same service whether they shop at store A, store B, or store C Cheap Jordan 1 Shoes , they will barely notice if store D shows up on the scene to offer similar services and then folds later.

SOLUTION:
A lack of differentiation can be a challenge for businesses. Fortunately, there are tools that businesses can develop strategies to differentiate themselves. One strategic tool was introduced by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in the book Blue Ocean Strategy.

Kim and Mauborgne talk about the red ocean that most businesses compete in and then discuss the blue ocean that differentiated (and successful) businesses compete in. Then, they present a tool to help businesses move from the over-crowded red ocean to the opportunity-rich blue ocean.

The tool is called the "Strategy Canvas". Along the bottom of the Strategy Canvas, users list measurable categories practiced by businesses in the industry. These categories might include general categories like price Cheap Jordan 1 High , customer service, quality, as well as industry-specific categories, too (like meals and lounges in the airline industry or vineyard prestige in the wine industry). Then Cheap Jordan 1 Retro , users chart the industry players, comparing how some deliver varying combinations of the categories. Users also compare their own business with their peers.

Charting the current industry conditions highlights how businesses are competing. If they want to move from a lower-priced provider to a higher-priced one, they might need to increase how they deliver in each category. But doing that still only leaves them competing with others.

The concept of Blue Ocean Strategy suggests that businesses can add new categories - once that are not used by competitors - to move from the highly competitive red ocean into the preferable blue ocean.

EXAMPLES:
In their book Blue Ocean Strategy, Kim and Mauborgne highlight several examples of blue ocean strategy in practice Cheap Jordan 1 , including Southwest Airlines, Yellow Tail wine, and Cirque du Soleil.

Another example might be one company who saw that SMS and blogs could be combined to create the microblogging phenomenon we know as Twitter.