David Cohen , Professor at the International MBA Master in Business Administration and Management and Professor in the Business Management Area at Bureau Veritas Training. Doctor of Agricultural Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid.
Having and adding value are the keys to being a good entrepreneur and having a good business strategy.
An entrepreneur must have courage
Entrepreneurs, new business people, must first have a business idea, preferably original or different, that can be developed successfully. It is important to note that great business ideas are not usually complex or particularly elaborate. They are usually:
Simple
Derived from existing business situations to bitcoin data which an innovation factor is added
They respond to a specific market need
They have a great deal of optimism and creativity.
It is essential that the entrepreneur also has a very clear strategic vision , which is reflected in:
WHAT you want to achieve: what are the company's objectives and what are the entrepreneur's expectations (their personal objectives).
HOW you want to do it: what are your policies, your procedures to achieve these objectives. It is necessary to design policies to protect the product or service, the technology used, the production process and the marketing and financial objectives.
WHO will do it: What kind of people do you need in your organization to achieve them?
The third essential factor in becoming an entrepreneur is to define and specify the Business Model . This must reflect the basic criteria that must characterize the new company, which make it perceived as different when competing.
It is structured in two aspects: definition of the business and the competitive advantages on which it is based.
Competitive advantages often arise from a company's internal capabilities, that is, its distinctive or core competencies: what the company can do better than its competitors.
These distinctive competencies are essentially based on two aspects: people and processes. Both, in turn, are usually based on corporate culture and values such as teamwork, taking on challenges, continuous effort, quality and commitment.
The challenge of adding value
All the aspects discussed above will allow a new company to add value, which requires carrying out a good strategic analysis from two perspectives.
First of all, it is necessary to analyze the company's Value Chain, which is defined as the set of intertwined activities that offer the market a final product or service.
These activities may be primary, those that add value to the product or service and are directly related to facilitating its delivery to the customer (Purchasing, Logistics, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales or Service departments), or support. The latter do not add value to the product or service, but they do support the primary activities, as they are intended to provide all the necessary elements for them to function (Administration or Human Resources departments, among others).
To enhance the Value Chain of the new company, it is advisable to concentrate on the primary activities that generate and add value (the so-called core business of the company) and subcontract or externalize (through outsourcing ) the support activities (those that do not generate value).
The value created depends on the company's own capabilities and skills (its distinctive competencies, its competitive advantages) and its position within the sector in which it operates (how it uses these competitive advantages).
In order to assess this situation, it is necessary to know the sector in which the company competes . Its structure will determine the potential to generate value for the group of companies competing in the same business. Both aspects (value chain and sector) allow the company's strategy to be specified and define its strategic focus.