Focus to Grow by Tim Williams

In turbulent times like these, marketing communications firms are scrambling to identify the best business strategy not only to get them through this recession, but to position themselves for success once the recession is over.

The natural response is to "try a little bit of everything"; to expand your services, broaden your capabilities, and try to appeal to more clients. It seems like common sense, but it's exactly the wrong response. The best growth strategy — in good economies or bad — is to decide what not to do.

Expand by narrowing

Imagine two architectural firms: one that's extremely focused with a clear value proposition, and one with an unfocused business strategy that attempts to do everything for everybody. Which of these two firms would have:

* The strongest earning power?
* The largest geographical market area?
* The fewest competitors?
* The greatest degree of respect from clients?
* The most sophisticated clients?

The answer in every case is the focused firm. Let's look at each question individually.

The greatest earning power. It's a simple fact that the specialist earns more than the generalist. This is true in medicine, law, engineering, architecture, consulting, construction, you name it. This is because the specialist knows more, and we live and work in a knowledge economy.

The largest geographical market area. Focused firms draw clients from all over the globe, not just from their own zip code. That's because what they’re selling isn't available down the block from some other firm just like them.

The fewest competitors. The easiest way to narrow your competition is to narrow your focus. There are far fewer specialists than generalists, and the law of supply and demand dictates that the less supply the greater the demand.

The greatest degree of respect from clients. Knowledge and expertise equals respect. An effective value proposition allows your firm to develop and leverage its intellectual capital. This makes you valued – and respected – not just for what you do, but what you know.

The most sophisticated clients. In the boardrooms of professional firms everywhere is heard the lament "If only we had better clients." A quality value proposition attracts a quality client. A business that proclaims "we’re right for everybody" is logically going to attract both the good and the bad.

As business strategist Chris Zook writes in his insightful book Profit from the Core,

"Having a clear sense of business boundaries and of the definition of your core is a critical starting point for growth strategy. Identifying the core of your business is the first step in determining how to grow."

This article has been provided by Tim Williams and reprinted with permission from Ignition Consulting Group. For more information, please visit http://www.ignitiongroup.com.