Business Strategy Traps To Avoid

Trap Number 1: 'Everybody Will Buy One'

There is nothing that everyone buys. Not even water! Yet, time and time again, entrepreneurs insult us with claims that their product is so fantastic that everyone will not be able to live without it. Ok, here's the problem. It's a misconception and one that may cost you greatly. Don't fall for the "idea". You must study the market and isolate those people who will buy your product.

Trap Number 2: 'Just... 1 (One) Percent of the Market'

How many times have you heard someone repeat what the sales were for such and such market for last year (or something of the sort) and then begin to make a comment something similar to, "If I could only get one percent of the market, I'll ... "? Ok, the arithmetic may be correct, but reality apparently hasn't set in. That 1 percent ultimately proves to be more difficult to sell than one would think. Such statements prove nothing other than the fact that you can do simple arithmetic. Don't say how much of the market you need, prove how much you can get.

Trap Number 3: Unrealistic Expectations

Very little purpose is served by developing elaborate strategies that a firm cannot execute. They must be attainable. Money definitely limits your strategic alternatives. You must live within your pocketbook.

You must live within your own capabilities. Make your strategies fit your talents. If you are a great manager of salespeople, use those skills in your corporate strategy.

Yet, strategy alone will not make you successful. Great strategies will fail if not adeptly executed. Of it matters not so much what you do but how well you do it. A single "Grand Strategy" does not exist.