Vous voulez devenir entrepreneurs ? Concentrez-vous sur ce qui donne un sens à votre vie

Essayez-vous de trouver la motivation et l’inspiration nécessaires pour devenir un entrepreneur ? Nous avons interrogé plus de 1 200 adultes Africain d’origines diverses de touts les pays, en cherchant à comprendre les facteurs qui poussent les gens à poursuivre leurs objectifs d’entrepreneur.

Notre grand coup de pouce ? Ce n’est pas une question d’argent, de succès ou même d’affaires.

Il s’agit de ceci : Si une personne a le sentiment que sa vie a un sens, elle a plus de chances de devenir entrepreneur.

Et cela va encore plus loin que cela!. Lorsque nous avons examiné les personnes qui ont déclaré vouloir créer une entreprise, nous avons constaté un schéma : Les plus énergiques, les plus confiants et les plus déterminés d’entre eux croient également qu’ils ont la capacité de vivre une vie qui a un sens. En fait, qu’elles aient ou non l’intention de créer une entreprise, les personnes interrogées qui croient fermement en leur capacité à mener une vie utile ont également l’opinion la plus positive sur les entrepreneurs.

En bref, le sens de la vie inspire l’esprit d’entreprise – ainsi que les opinions publiques nécessaires pour que notre société soit favorable à l’esprit d’entreprise.

Alors, qu’est-ce que le sens de la vie exactement ?
Lorsque nous disons “sens de la vie”, nous voulons dire que vous avez le sentiment de jouer un rôle important dans le monde. C’est le sentiment que vous avez un but. Se sentir utile, c’est croire qu’on compte, qu’on peut apporter une contribution importante à sa famille, à ses amis, à sa communauté et à la société en général.

Cela a de puissantes implications sur le bien-être physique et mental, sur la confiance et la motivation, et sur l’optimisme quant à l’avenir. Des décennies de recherche en psychologie ont montré l’importance de ce sentiment de sens pour rendre les gens résilients et concentrés dans les moments difficiles.

Et voici pourquoi il est si important de comprendre cela maintenant : Si nous pouvons tirer parti du pouvoir du sens, les futurs entrepreneurs peuvent se lever et nous apporter la résilience et la concentration nécessaires pour nous aider tous à traverser ces moments difficiles.

Comment les entrepreneurs peuvent-ils exploiter ce pouvoir?
Où que vous en soyez dans votre parcours d’entrepreneur, commencez par prendre le temps de vous concentrer sur ce qui donne actuellement un sens à votre vie. Ensuite, réfléchissez à la façon dont vos ambitions d’entrepreneur se fondent sur ce point. Pour la plupart d’entre nous, le sens se trouve dans les relations étroites, en se connectant avec ceux que nous aimons et en les servant. Par conséquent, il peut être utile, lors de l’élaboration d’un plan d’entreprise, de réfléchir à la manière dont il vous aidera non seulement à poursuivre vos propres ambitions, mais aussi à profiter à ceux qui vous sont le plus chers.

Par exemple, êtes-vous en train de créer une entreprise qui peut offrir des opportunités à votre famille et à vos amis ? Votre entreprise vous donnera-t-elle la possibilité de passer plus de temps avec vos proches ? Ou vous offrira-t-elle de nouveaux moyens de mieux être là pour eux ?

Plus généralement, réfléchissez à la manière dont votre future entreprise peut contribuer de manière significative à votre communauté, voire au monde entier. En vous concentrant sur le rôle significatif que vous pouvez jouer, vous pourrez non seulement vous inspirer, mais aussi générer de nouvelles idées et des solutions innovantes aux défis auxquels vous et votre communauté êtes confrontés. Vous pouvez être celui qui contribue à faire des percées importantes, celui qui trouve un moyen d’aider les populations vulnérables de la communauté, ou celui qui trouve une nouvelle façon de fournir des biens pour répondre aux besoins des gens pendant la période de distanciation sociale.

En fin de compte, lorsque nos défis mondiaux seront passés, la reprise économique dépendra de l’esprit d’entreprise et des innovations commerciales pour aider notre société à s’épanouir. Alors que les gens continuent, du moins à court terme, à réduire leurs déplacements, à limiter leurs achats au détail et leurs sorties au restaurant, à éviter d’assister à de grands événements et réunions et à poursuivre d’autres comportements de distanciation sociale, les entreprises devront continuer à explorer de nouvelles façons de fournir et de produire des biens et des services. De nouvelles opportunités se présenteront pour celles qui sont capables d’innover dans cet environnement. En outre, les particuliers devront soutenir les entrepreneurs et leurs entreprises afin qu’ils puissent se reconstruire et prospérer.

Le fait de croire que votre vie a un sens, que vous avez un rôle important à jouer dans le monde, peut vous aider à cultiver un esprit d’entreprise et à innover de manière à répondre à votre besoin de sens, mais aussi à façonner un monde florissant où d’autres peuvent faire de même.

 

Strategic marketing Analysis

 

Strategic analysis refers to the process of conducting research on a company and its operating environment to formulate a strategy. … Defining the internal and external environments to be analyzed. Using several analytic methods such as Porter’s five forces analysis, SWOT analysis

Undertaking a strategic analysis is the foundation upon which strategic decisions are constructed. In this text strategic analysis is broken down into three constituent elements: external analysis, customer analysis and internal analysis. The aim of the process is to develop a detailed and all embracing view of the company and its external environment so as to permit the organisation to formulate informed strategic decisions.

 

• External analysis

An analysis of the external environment is undertaken in order to discover the opportunities and threats that are evolving and that need to be addressed by the organisation.

An analysis of the external environment can be broken down into three key steps each becoming more specific to the organisation. The first step is an analysis of the macro-environmental (PESTEL) influences that the organisation faces. This is followed by an examination of the competitive (micro) environment the organisation operates within. Finally a specific competitive analysis is undertaken.

• Macro-environmental analysis

The macro-environment audit examines the broad range of environmental issues that may affect the organisation. This will include the political/legal issues, economic factors, social/cultural issues and technological developments. This is normally referred to as a PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) analysis, although some writers use the alternative acronym of STEP analysis.The aim of this analysis is to identify the critical issues in the external environment that may affect the organization, before judging the impact they may have on the organisation.

Political/legal issues

• Environmental protection measures
• Taxation policy
• Employment law
• Monopoly controls
• Environmental legislation
• Foreign trade agreements
• Stability of the governmental system

 

Economic factors

• Interest rates
• Money supply
• Inflation rates
• Business cycles
• Unemployment
• GNP trends

Social/cultural issues

• Age profiles
• Social mobility
• Changes in lifestyles
• Family structures
• Levels of education
• Work behaviour
• Leisure activities
• Distribution of income
• Patterns of ownership
• Attitudes and values

Technological factors

• Focus of government research
• Rate of technology transfer
• Materials
• Developing technological processes

 

• Industry analysis

An organisation has to understand the nature of the relationship within its industry, in order to allow the enterprise to develop strategies to gain advantage of the current relationships. A useful framework, that can be utilised when undertaking this analysis, is Porter’s ‘five forces’ model of establishing industry attractiveness for a business. This analysis should be conducted at the level of the individual strategic business unit (SBU).

 

• Competitor analysis

The ‘five forces’ analysis has examined the overall industry and is a starting point in assessing a company’s competitive position. This is likely to be a broad definition of an industry and contains a number of companies that would not be direct competitors. Companies that are direct competitors in terms of products and customer profiles are seen as being in a strategic group.

Strategic groups are made up of organisations within the same industry that are pursuing equivalent strategies targeting groups of customers that have similar profiles.

There is a range of attributes that can be used to identify strategic groups. Some examples are as follows:

• Size of the company
• Assets and skills
• Scope of the operation
• Breadth of the product range
• Choice of distribution channel
• Relative product quality
• Brand image

For many companies analyzing every competitor in its generic industry, would be a difficult task in terms of management time and company resources. Defining an organisation’s strategic group allows a company to concentrate its analysis on its direct competitors and to examine them in more detail.

Tools used to analyse the internal environment, such as the value chain, can also be used to analyse competitors. For each competitor in their strategic group an organisation needs, as far as possible, to establish the following:

• Competitors objectives: Competitors objectives can be identified by analysing three important factors. They are as follows:

1 Whether the competitor’s current performance is likely to be fulfilling their objectives. If not the competitor may initiate a change of strategy.

2 How likely the competitor is to commit further investment to the business. Financial objectives may indicate this.

3 The likely future direction of the competitor’s strategy. The organisation may have non-financial objectives, such as gaining technology leadership.

• Competitor’s current and past strategies: There are three areas that should be explored in order to establish a competitor’s current activities. They are as follows:

1 Identification of the current markets, or market segments, within which the competitor currently operates. This will indicate the scope of the business.

2 Identification of the way the competitor has chosen to compete in those markets. Is it based on quality of service, brand image or on price? This may be an indication of whether a low cost or differentiation strategy is being pursued.

3 Comparison between the current strategy and past strategies can be instructive. Firstly it can illustrate the direction the competitor is moving, in terms of product and market development, over time. It can also highlight strategies that the organisation has tried in the past and have failed.

• Competitor’s capabilities: An analysis of a competitor’s assets and competencies allow a judgement to be made about how well equipped they are to address the market, given the dynamics in the industry and the trends in the external environment. In order to evaluate a competitor’s potential challenge to an organisation a number of areas need to be examined:

–  Management capabilities: The level of centralisation or de-centralisation of management decisions will also affect decision making. Recruitment and promotion policies, along with the remuneration and rewards scheme, all give an indication as to the culture and style of the management team.

– Marketing capabilities: An analysis of the competitor’s actions, with the marketing mix, uncovers the areas where their marketing skills are high and also areas of vulnerability. There are a number of questions that can be asked: How good is the competitor’s product line? Do they have a strong brand image? Is their advertising effective? How good are their distribution channels? How strong is their relationship with customers?

– Innovation capabilities: Evaluating a competitor’s ability to innovate allows an organisation to judge how likely the rival is to introduce new products and services or even new technology. Assessing the quality of a competitor’s technical staff, its technical facilities and their level of investment in research and development will all help indicate their likely potential in this area.

– Production capabilities: The configuration of a competitor’s production infrastructure can highlight areas that may place them at an advantage or conversely point out areas that are problematic to a competitor. Such factors could be geographic spread of plant, level of vertical integration or level of capacity utilisation.

– Financial capabilities: The ability to finance developments is a critical area. Competitors that have strong cash flows, or are a division of a major group, may have the ability to finance investment not available to other competitors.

• Competitors future strategies and reactions: One of the aims of the competitor analysis so far has been to gather information on rivals to establish their likely future strategy. Equally important is to evaluate competitor’s likely reactions to any strategic moves the organisation might instigate.

 

The competitive analysis has allowed the organisation to establish its relative position versus its competitors on a range of important criteria. However the organisation has to judge itself and its competitors against the market it is operating within.

 

The market analysis

Amarket analysis would normally include the following areas:

• Actual and potential market size: Estimating the total sales in the market allows the organisation to evaluate the realism of particular market share objectives. Identifying the key sub-markets of this market, and potential areas of growth, as it is crucial to developing a marketing strategy, as is establishing if any areas are in decline.
• Trends: Analysing general trends in the market identifies the changes that have actually taken place. This can help to uncover the reasons for these changes and expose the critical drivers underlying a market.
• Customers: The analysis needs to identify who the customer is and what criteria they use to judge a product offering. Information on where, when and how customers purchase the product, or service, allows an organisation to begin to understand the needs of the. Identifying changing trends in consumer behaviour may begin to signal potential market developments and opportunities.
• Customer segments: Identifying current market segments and establishing the benefits each group requires allows an organisation to detect if it has the capability to serve particular consumer’s needs.
• Distribution channels: Identifying the changes of importance between channels of distribution, based on growth, cost or effectiveness, permits a company to evaluate its current arrangements. Establishing the key decision makers in a channel of distribution also helps to inform strategic decisions.

15 conseils pour devenir un entrepreneur meilleur

 

Ne laissez pas les émotions impacter vos décisions

Les émotions, c’est important, mais cela fausse parfois le jugement

Acceptez les critiques, peu importe qui les formule

La critique, ça a du bon, utilisez-la ! et developer votre activite ENTREPRENEUR

Apprenez de vos erreurs

Le problème n’est pas de faire des erreurs, mais plutôt de les reproduire sans cesse.

Apprenez des erreurs des autres

Ecoutez un peu ceux qui sont passés par là avant vous.

Derrière chaque recoin se cache une opportunité pour vous de vendre quelque chose

Eh oui, ne l’oubliez pas !

Ne soyez pas trop gourmands…

La grenouille et le bœuf (du maitre Jean de la Fontaine), rappelez-vous !

Essayez de séparer votre vie personnelle et professionnelle

Je sais, c’est dur !

Quelque soit votre succès, n’arrêtez jamais d’apprendre

On peut toujours progresser, même si on s’appelle Steve Jobs ou Xavier Niel !

Investir dans de bons avocats et comptables est important pour un business sur le long terme

Couvrez-vous si vous le pouvez.

Ne choisissez pas un nom d’entreprise stupide, et évitez d’en changer

Vous pourriez le regretter sinon.

Embauchez des employés ne va pas résoudre la plupart de vos problèmes

C’est important, mais pas LE plus important.

Soyez agiles. Les gens qui ne savent pas s’adapter ne gagnent jamais

On s’en rend compte sur le marché du travail par exemple.

Être agile ne suffit pas, vous devez aussi savoir vous battre

Vos gants de boxe sont prêts ?

Avoir de bons partenaires vous aidera pour atteindre le succès

Vous les trouverez peut-être sur le forum ?

N’ayez pas peur de ce que vous ne connaissez pas

Ça marche aussi pour la vie en général.

 

LES T-SHIRT ENTREPRENEUR

BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP (BCG MODEL)

When using the Boston Consulting Group Matrix, SBUs (sub Business unites) can be shown within any of the four quadrants (Star, Question Mark, Cash Cow, Dog) as a circle whose area represents their size. With different colors, competitors may also be shown. The precise location is determined by the two axes, Industry Growth as the Y axis, Market Share as the X axis. Alternatively, changes over or two years can be shown by shading or other differences in design. The BCG matrix (aka B.C.G. analysis, BCG-matrix, Boston Box, Boston Matrix, Boston Consulting Group analysis) is a chart that had been created by Bruce Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group in 1970 to help corporations with analyzing their business units or product lines. This helps the company allocate resources and is used as an analytical tool in brand marketing, product management, strategic management, and portfolio analysis.

                                                               Figure 3.1: BCG Chart

To use the chart, analysts plot a scatter graph to rank the business units (or products) on the basis of their relative market shares and growth rates.
• Cash cows are units with high market share in a slow-growing industry. These units
typically generate cash in excess of the amount of cash needed to maintain the business.
They are regarded as staid and boring, in a “mature” market, and every corporation would be thrilled to own as many as possible. They are to be “milked” continuously with as little investment as possible, since such investment would be wasted in an industry with low growth.
• Dogs, or more charitably called pets, are units with low market share in a mature, slow growing industry. These units typically “break even”, generating barely enough cash to maintain the business’s market share. Though owning a break-even unit provides the
social benefit of providing jobs and possible synergies that assist other business units,
from an accounting point of view such a unit is worthless, not generating cash for the
company. They depress a profitable company’s return on assets ratio, used by many
investors to judge how well a company is being managed. Dogs, it is thought, should be
sold off.
• Question marks (also known as problem child) are growing rapidly and thus consume
large amounts of cash, but because they have low market shares they do not generate
much cash. The result is a large net cash consumption. A question mark has the potential to gain market share and become a star, and eventually a cash cow when the market growth slows. If the question mark does not succeed in becoming the market leader, then after perhaps years of cash consumption it will degenerate into a dog when the market
growth declines. Question marks must be analyzed carefully in order to determine
whether they are worth the investment required to grow market share.
• Stars are units with a high market share in a fast-growing industry. The hope is that stars become the next cash cows. Sustaining the business unit’s market leadership may require extra cash, but this is worthwhile if that’s what it takes for the unit to remain a leader. When growth slows, stars become cash cows if they have been able to maintain their category leadership, or they move from brief stardom to dogdom.
As a particular industry matures and its growth slows, all business units become either cash cows or dogs. The natural cycle for most business units is that they start as question marks, then turn into stars. Eventually the market stops growing thus the business unit becomes a cash cow. At the end of the cycle the cash cow turns into a dog.
The overall goal of this ranking was to help corporate analysts decide which of their business units to fund, and how much; and which units to sell. Managers were supposed to gain perspective from this analysis that allowed them to plan with confidence to use money generated by the cash cows to fund the stars and, possibly, the question marks. As the BCG stated in 1970:
Only a diversified company with a balanced portfolio can use its strengths to truly capitalize on its growth opportunities. The balanced portfolio has:
• stars whose high share and high growth assure the future;
• cash cows that supply funds for that future growth; and
• Question marks to be converted into stars with the added funds.
Practical Use of the BCG Matrix: For each product or service, the ‘area’ of the circle represents the value of its sales. The BCG Matrix thus offers a very useful ‘map’ of the organization’s product (or service) strengths and weaknesses, at least in terms of current profitability, as well as the likely cashflows.
The need which prompted this idea was, indeed, that of managing cash-flow. It was reasoned that one of the main indicators of cash generation was relative market share, and one which pointed to cash usage was that of market growth rate. Derivatives can also be used to create a ‘product portfolio’ analysis of services. So Information System services can be treated accordingly.
Relative market share: This indicates likely cash generation, because the higher the share the more cash will be generated. As a result of ‘economies of scale’ (a basic assumption of the BCG Matrix), it is assumed that these earnings will grow faster the higher the share. The exact measure is the brand’s share relative to its largest competitor. Thus, if the brand had a share of 20 percent, and the largest competitor had the same, the ratio would be 1:1. If the largest competitor had a share of 60 percent; however, the ratio would be 1:3, implying that the organization’s brand was in a relatively weak position. If the largest competitor only had a share of 5 percent, the ratio would be 4:1, implying that the brand owned was in a relatively strong position, which might be reflected in profits and cash flows. If this technique is used in practice, this scale is logarithmic,
not linear.On the other hand, exactly what is a high relative share is a matter of some debate. The best evidence is that the most stable position (at least in FMCG markets) is for the brand leader to have a share double that of the second brand, and triple that of the third. Brand leaders in this position tend to be very stable—and profitable. The reason for choosing relative market share, rather than just profits, is that it carries more information than just cash flow. It shows where the brand is positioned against its main competitors, and indicates where it might be likely to go in the future. It can also show what type of marketing activities might be expected to be effective.
Market growth rate: Rapidly growing in rapidly growing markets, are what organizations strive for; but, as we have seen, the penalty is that they are usually net cash users – they require investment. The reason for this is often because the growth is being ‘bought’ by the high investment, in the reasonable expectation that a high market share will eventually turn into a sound investment in future profits. The theory behind the matrix assumes, therefore, that a higher
growth rate is indicative of accompanying demands on investment. The cut-off point is usually chosen as 10 per cent per annum. Determining this cut-off point, the rate above which the growth is deemed to be significant (and likely to lead to extra demands on cash) is a critical requirement
of the technique; and one that, again, mak’Minority applicability‘. The cash flow techniques are only applicable to a very limited number of markets (where growth is relatively high, and a definite pattern of product life-cycles can be observed, such as that of ethical pharmaceuticals). In the majority of markets, use may give misleading results.
‘Milking cash bulls’. Perhaps the worst implication of the later developments is that the (brand leader) cash bulls should be milked to fund new brands. This is not what research into the FMCG markets has shown to be the case. The brand leader’s position is the one, above all, to be defended, not least since brands in this position will probably outperform any number of newly launched brands. Such brand leaders will, of course, generate large cash flows; but they should not be `milked’ to such an extent that their position is jeopardized. In any case, the chance of the new brands achieving similar brand leadership may be slim—certainly far less than the popular perception of the Boston Matrix would imply.
Perhaps the most important danger is, however, that the apparent implication of its four-quadrant form is that there should be balance of products or services across all four quadrants; and that is, indeed, the main message that it is intended to convey. Thus, money must be diverted from `cash cows’ to fund the `stars’ of the future, since `cash cows’ will inevitably decline to become `dogs’. There is an almost mesmeric inevitability about the whole process. It focuses attention, and funding, on to the `stars’. It presumes, and almost demands that `cash bulls’ will turn into `dogs’. The reality is that it is only the `cash bulls’ that are really important—all the other elements are supporting actors. It is a foolish vendor who diverts funds from a `cash cow’ when these are needed to extend the life of that `product’. Although it is necessary to recognize a `dog’ when it appears (at least before it bites you) it would be foolish in the extreme to create one in order to balance up the picture. The vendor, who has most of his (or her) products in the `cash cow’ quadrant, should consider himself (or herself) fortunate indeed, and an excellent marketer, although he or she might also consider creating a few stars as an insurance policy against unexpected future developments and, perhaps, to add some extra growth. There is also a common misconception that ‘dogs’ are a waste of resources. In many markets ‘dogs’ can be considered loss-leaders that while not themselves profitable will lead to increased sales in other
profitable areas.
Alternatives: As with most marketing techniques, there are a number of alternative offerings vying with the BCG Matrix although this appears to be the most widely used (or at least most widely taught—and then probably ‘not’ used). The next most widely reported technique is that developed by McKinsey and General Electric, which is a three-cell by three-cell matrix—using the dimensions of `industry attractiveness‘ and `business strengths’. This approaches some of the same issues as the BCG Matrix but from a different direction and in a more complex way (which may be why it is used less, or is at least less widely taught). Perhaps the most practical approach is that of the Boston Consulting Group’s Advantage Matrix, which the consultancy reportedly used itself though it is little known amongst the wider population.
Other uses: The initial intent of the growth-share matrix was to evaluate business units, but the same evaluation can be made for product lines or any other cash-generating entities. This should
only be attempted for real lines that have a sufficient history to allow some prediction; if the corporation has made only a few products and called them a product line, the sample variance
will be too high for this sort of analysis to be meaningful.
Drawbacks: The growth-share matrix once was used widely, but has since faded from
popularity as more comprehensive models have been developed. Some of its weaknesses are:
• Market growth rate is only one factor in industry attractiveness, and relative market share
is only one factor in competitive advantage. The growth-share matrix overlooks many
other factors in these two important determinants of profitability.
• The framework assumes that each business unit is independent of the others. In some
cases, a business unit that is a “dog” may be helping other business units gain a
competitive advantage.
• The matrix depends heavily upon the breadth of the definition of the market. A business
unit may dominate its small niche, but have very low market share in the overall industry.
In such a case, the definition of the market can make the difference between a dog and a
cash cow. While its importance has diminished, the BCG matrix still can serve as a
simple tool for viewing a corporation’s business portfolio at a glance, and may serve as a
starting point for discussing resource allocation among strategic business units.
———————————————————————————————————-

Web marketing and its strategies

The key to online business success is a comprehensive web marketing strategy supported by
effective marketing tactics. You need to plan how to attract new prospects, convert leads into
sales, and maximize the lifetime value of your customers.
The good news is that once you’ve figured out the right formula, it’s usually easy to automate the
process, and leverage the Internet to quickly multiply your profits.
What is a Web Marketing Strategy? Web or Internet Marketing strategies form the
cornerstones of your online business, and outline in general terms what is required to make your
business a success (for example, driving potential customers to your website). Ideally you should
consider and write out the different elements of your overall marketing strategy before you do
anything else.
Internet Marketing Tactics: Achieving the aims set out in your web marketing strategy means
taking action and implementing various marketing tactics. This is where it gets difficult. The
problem is knowing which web marketing tactics actually work, or just as importantly – which
don’t. There’s so much hype and misinformation about marketing online that it’s often difficult to
find the truth. Many end up using incorrect or outdated Internet marketing strategies and tactics
that have them working hard but getting nowhere.
Web marketing is effective and profitable. Don’t let anybody convince you otherwise. Today
thousands of companies and individuals from all over the world sell products or services via the
Internet and make good money relatively easily. You can too. It’s simply that it can take a while
to learn the ropes before you start turning a decent profit, especially with all the bad advice that’s
floating around. Understand that you and every other internet marketer will always be learning
anyway, because today’s killer marketing strategy or tactic could be tomorrow’s dud. And accept
that you will get it wrong sometimes. The difference between those that fail and those that
succeed is simply this: The successful refused to give up and kept trying until they found what
worked. The free Internet marketing information and tools you’ll find here will save you time
and heartaches. If you need more direct assistance, our web marketing services can help put you
on the fast track to profits.
If you’re still struggling to finally reach your financial independence & make a nice living from
your home, then listen… The only reason why you’re failing is because you don’t have a good
website marketing strategy. If you ask any successful offline world entrepreneur how it’s

possible to build a great business without a proper strategy, he’ll start laughing. But many
internet marketers are trying to make money without even realizing what on earth they’re doing
online… If you believe that you can jump in, create a website, submit it to a few directories or
blogs, sit down, relax & watch those thousands of dollars (that you’ve seen in many marketers’
checks) to come, then you need to stop right there. It ain’t gonna happen. You need to think:
who you are and where do you want to be in the future. Whether offline or online, there are only
two things that matter: “Buying” and “Selling”. Basically, to simplify, it all comes down to this:
• Who is your customer? What is he or she specifically looking for? You must know their
problems or desires. You must be in their shoes and find out what is that would make
them feel better (an offer).
• What is your offer? Why should they buy from you? How come you’re better than the
rest? Why should they trust you? Are you offering your own or someone else’s product?
How will you create an irresistible offer so they beg you to sell it to them? Think about it…
There are millions of people buying online every single day. If they’re not buying from you then
whose fault is that – theirs or yours? Before you even start creating internet marketing strategy
for your website(s), you need to do a research. That’s where it all begins actually. Just like in any
business, you have to understand where you are and what can you do.
#1 Phase – Online Research: In this phase, you must research your market.
• Who are your main competitors? What are they doing online? PPC, SEO, press
releases, develop their own products; do affiliate marketing or Ad sense? What are their
weaknesses? Do they offer a guarantee? Is their product really good? Do they build links
constantly or not?
• Who is your favorite customer? Where do they hangout: My Space or You Tube? Are
they freebie seekers or desperate buyers? What forces them to buy one or another
product? Read reviews, forums, testimonials to find out as much as you can about your
target market.
#2 Phase – Data Analysis
• If you’ve performed a thorough online market research, it’s time to systematize the data
you have. Write down what are the main strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
Maybe you have more time than your competitors? Or maybe you know some targeted
traffic source that others don’t. How might this affect your business?
• Which are the places your target market usually visits? What are their main concerns?
Maybe they’re not satisfied with the products in the market. Can offer something better,
maybe in a form of a bonus? After that, you come to the next step, which is developing
your internet marketing strategy.

#3 Phase – Strategy Development

• When you already know your target market and your competitors, you are able to start
creating your internet marketing strategy (or strategies). Just sit down and think about:
who you are and what you can offer to the target market. It involves a little bit of
planning. What marketing methods you’ll use and which ones you can afford? PPC, SEO,
email, blogging, podcasting, video blogging, webinars, viral traffic generation, link
building, banner exchange or others?
• You must prioritize your web marketing tactics. Find out what’s going to bring you
positive ROI in the shortest time possible.

#4 Phase – Monitoring Performance

When you have an internet marketing plan, you can start implementing it right away. The last
step is to start monitoring your internet marketing campaigns. Which keywords people typed into
search engines to find your site? Which keywords brought you the most money in PPC
marketing? Are you satisfied with your SEO rankings or not? Do majority of your visitors
leave your site without even spending 30 seconds? And so on…
Only with the help of close monitoring you can discover what works and what doesn’t. Testing
landing pages, testing Ad words ads against each other (A/B split testing) can show you some
amazing results. And remember – you never know for sure until you TEST it!
There is no formula for an effective Internet marketing strategy. It depends on your individual
situation. When you realize your strengths and weaknesses, you’ll be able to come up with a
great marketing plan. No matter if you’re thinking about Ad sense site, affiliate site or your own
product. When you find out what you’re able to accomplish with your resources at the moment,
you can create a great web marketing strategy for your online business and finally breakthrough
on the internet.

CONCEPT OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY

Supply and demand is an economic model based on price, utility and quantity in a market. It
concludes that in a competitive market, price will function to equalize the quantity demanded by
consumers, and the quantity supplied by producers, resulting in an economic equilibrium of price
and quantity. An increase in the quantity produced or supplied will typically result in a reduction
in price and vice-versa. Similarly, an increase in the number of workers tends to result in lower
wages and vice-versa. The model incorporates other factors changing equilibrium as a shift of
demand and/or supply.
The demand schedule, depicted graphically as the demand curve, represents the amount of goods
that buyers are willing and able to purchase at various prices, assuming all other non-price
factors remain the same. The demand curve is almost always represented as downwards-sloping,
meaning that as price decreases, consumers will buy more of the good. Just as the supply curves
reflect marginal cost curves, demand curves can be described as marginal utility curves.
The main determinants of individual demand are: the price of the good, level of income, personal
tastes, the population (number of people), the government policies, the price of substitute goods,
and the price of complementary goods. The shape of the aggregate demand curve can be convex
or concave, possibly depending on income distribution. In fact, an aggregate demand function
cannot be derived except under restrictive and unrealistic assumptions.
As described above, the demand curve is generally downward sloping. There may be rare
examples of goods that have upward sloping demand curves. Two different hypothetical types of
goods with upward-sloping demand curves are a Giffen good (an inferior, but staple, good) and a
Veblen good (a good made more fashionable by a higher price).

500 × 500

In a market economy, individual consumers make plans of consumption and individual firms
make plans of production based on the changes in market prices. Economists use the term
invisible hand to describe the frequent exchanges in the market because everyone (no matter
consumer or producer) takes the market price as a signal on trade and makes exchanges with
private property rights (defined and protected by laws). The price system works in a market
economy only if there is free choice within the market. The following sections explain how the
market price is determined by the interaction of consumers (demand) and producers (supply). In
the latter parts, the factors causing a change in price are explained.
Concept of Demand: In economics, the word ‘demand’ consists of 4 main concepts:
• It refers to both the ability to pay and a willingness to buy by the consumer (s). Demand
is sometimes called effective demand.

• Demand can be shown by a demand schedule which shows the maximum quantity
demanded (willing & able to buy) at all prices.
• Demand is a flow concept. Our willingness and ability to buy is subjected to a time
period. At different times, we may have different demand schedules.
• There are many factors affecting our demand. In order to explore the effect of price on
quantity demanded, economists like to assume other factors unchanged so as to make the
analysis easier.
In Latin, the term ‘ceteris paribus’ means ‘ holding other factors constant or unchanged’.
An individual demand refers to the quantity of a good a consumer is willing to buy and able to
buy at all prices within a period of time, ceteris paribus.
Concept of Supply: The word ‘supply’ bears 4 similar concepts with demand:
• It refers to both the ability to sell (produce) and the willingness to sell by the producer(s).
Supply implies an effective supply.
• Supply can be shown by a supply schedule which shows the maximum quantity supplied
at all different prices.
• Supply is also a flow concept. Time is an important factor affecting the condition of
supply.
• There are again many factors affecting the supply of a firm. Economics hold the ceteris
paribus condition in order to analyze the relationship between price and quantity supplied
by a firm or producer.
————————————————————————————

6 Essential Steps In Setting Price For A Product

A firm must set a price for the first time when it develops a new product, when it introduces its regular product into a new distribution channel or geographical area, and when it enters bids on new contract work.

When setting the price of a new product, marketers must consider the competition’s prices, estimated consumer demand, costs, and expenses, as well as the firm’s pricing objectives and strategies.

 

Stages in setting the price by NK

Here are the steps on how to set a price products:

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Step 1: Selecting the Pricing Objective

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The company first decides where it wants to position its market offering. The clearer a firm’s objectives, the easier it is to set price. Five major objectives are:

• Survival
• Maximum current profit
• Maximum market share
• Maximum market skimming
• Product-quality leadership

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Step 2: Determining Demand

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Each price will lead to a different level of demand and have a different impact on a company’s marketing objectives. The normally inverse relationship between price and demand is captured in a demand curve. The higher the price, the lower the demand.

Most companies attempt to measure their demand curves using several different methods.

• Surveys
• Price experiments
• Statistical analysis

• ---

Step 3: Estimating Costs

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For determination the price of product company should estimate the cost of product.

Variable and Fixed Cost :

Price must cover variable & fixed costs and as production increases costs may decrease. The firm gains experience, obtains raw materials at lower prices, etc., so costs should be estimated at different production levels.

Differential Cost in Differential Market :

Firms must also analyze activity-based cost accounting (ABC) instead of standard cost accounting. ABC takes into account the costs of serving different retailers as the needs of differ from retailer to retailer.

Target Costing :

Also the firm may attempt Target Costing (TG). TG is when a firm estimates a new product’s desired functions & determines the price that it could be sold at. From this price the desired profit margin is calculated. Now the firm knows how much it can spend on production whether it be engineering, design, or sales but the costs now have a target range. The goal is to get the costs into the target range.

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Step 4: Analyzing Competitors’ Costs, Prices, and Offers

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The firm should benchmark its price against competitors, learn about the quality of competitors offering, & learn about competitor’s costs.

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Step 5: Selecting a Pricing Method

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Various pricing methods are available to give various alternatives for pricing.

• Markup Pricing: a 20% markup
• Target Return Pricing: this is based on ROI
• Perceived-Value Pricing: buyers perception of the product is key, not cost so what is the product worth to consumer sets the price.
• Value Pricing: more for less philosophy
• Going Rate Pricing: charge what everyone else is
• Auction-Type Pricing: companies bid prices to get a job

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Step 6: Selecting the Final Price

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Pricing methods narrow the range from which the company must select its final price. In selecting that price, the company must consider additional factors.

• Impact of other marketing activities
• Company pricing policies
• Gain-and-risk-sharing pricing
• Impact of price on other parties

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STRATEGIC PLANNING

What is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. It is a disciplined effort that produces fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future. Effective strategic planning articulates not only where an organization is going and the actions needed to make progress, but also how it will know if it is successful.

What is a Strategic Plan?

A strategic plan is a document used to communicate with the organization the organizations goals, the actions needed to achieve those goals and all of the other critical elements developed during the planning exercise.

What is Strategic Management?  What is Strategy Execution?

Strategic management is the comprehensive collection of ongoing activities and processes that organizations use to systematically coordinate and align resources and actions with mission, vision and strategy throughout an organization. Strategic management activities transform the static plan into a system that provides strategic performance feedback to decision making and enables the plan to evolve and grow as requirements and other circumstances change.  Strategy Execution is basically synonymous with Strategy Management and amounts to the systematic implementation of a strategy.

What is the strategic planning process?

In the simplest terms, the strategic planning process is the method that organizations use to develop plans to achieve overall, long-term goals.

It helps you determine your mission, vision, and goals. The strategic planning process is broader—it helps you create a roadmap for which strategic objectives you should put effort into achieving and which initiatives will be less helpful to the business. The strategic planning process steps are outlined below.

Strategic planning process steps

To start the strategic planning process, follow these steps.

1. Determine your strategic position

This preparation phase sets the stage for all work going forward. You need to know where you are to determine where you need to go and how you will get there.

Get the right stakeholders involved from the start, considering both internal and external sources. Identify key strategic issues by talking with executives at your company, pulling in customer insights, and collecting industry and market data to get a clear picture of your position in the market and in the minds of your customers. .

It can also be helpful to review—or create, if you don’t have them already—your company’s mission and vision statements to give yourself and your team a clear image of what success looks like for your business. In addition, you should review your company’s core values to remind yourself about how your company will go about achieving these objectives.

SWOT Analysis Template

As a framework for your initial analysis, use a SWOT diagram., With input from executives, customers, and external market data, you can quickly categorize your findings as Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) to clarify your current position.

To get started, you can use Lucidchart’s free SWOT analysis template to document your organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses, along with external opportunities (ways your organization can grow in order to fill needs that the market does not currently fill) and threats (your competition).

As you synthesize this information, your unique strategic position in the market will become clear, and you can start solidifying a few key strategic objectives. Often, these objectives are set with a three- to five-year horizon in mind.

2. Develop a strategic plan

Once you have identified your current position in the market and have identified potential strategic objectives in line with your company mission and vision,, you’re ready to develop your strategic plan.

To develop your plan, prioritize your objectives by asking important questions such as:

• Which of these initiatives will have the greatest impact when it comes to achieving our company mission/vision and improving our position in the market?
• What types of impact are most important (e.g. customer acquisition vs. revenue)?
• How will the competition react?
• Which initiatives are most urgent?
• What will we need to do to accomplish our goals?
• How will we measure our progress and determine whether we achieved our goals?

Once you and your team have prioritized your long-term objectives, you must determine what specific goals or initiatives you will need to achieve, in order to successfully reach your objectives. Use SMART goals to determine a timeline and identify the resources needed to achieve the goals, as well as key performance indicators (KPIs) to make your success measurable.

As you decide which goals to focus on, determine which initiatives you will not focus on. Truly strategic choices usually involve a trade-off in opportunity cost. For example, your company may decide to not put as much funding behind customer support, so that it can put more funding into creating an intuitive user experience.

Be prepared to use your values, mission statement, and established priorities to say “no” to initiatives that won’t enhance your long-term strategic position.

3. Execute and manage the plan

Once you have the plan, you’re ready to implement it. First, communicate the plan to the organization by sharing relevant documentation. Then, the actual work begins.

Lucidchart is useful for mapping processes and turning your broader strategy into a concrete plan. For example, to clearly communicate team responsibilities, you can use swimlanes to illustrate the completion process and ownership for each step of the way.

Set up regular reviews with individual contributors and their superiors and determine check-in points to make sure you’re on track.

4. Review and revise the plan

The final stage of the plan—to review and revise—gives you an opportunity to reevaluate your priorities and course-correct based on past successes or failures. On a quarterly basis, determine which KPIs your team has met and how you can continue to meet them, adapting your plan as necessary.

On an annual basis, it’s important to reevaluate your priorities and strategic position to ensure that you stay on track for success in the long run. Over time, you may find that your mission and vision need to change—an annual evaluation is a good time to consider those changes, prepare a new plan, and implement again.

Master the strategic planning process steps

As you continue to implement the strategic planning process, repeating each step regularly, you will start to make measurable progress toward achieving your company’s vision. Instead of always putting out fires, reacting to the competition, or focusing on the latest hot-button initiative, you’ll be able to maintain a long-term perspective and make decisions that will keep you on the path to success for years to come.

What Is Gap Analysis? 3 Steps and Examples to Use

Let’s answer your question upfront: What is gap analysis? It’s a reporting process used to improve processes within various industries. In other words it is a tool used by marketing managers to analyse the diffrence between where we are now and where we want to be. Ultimately, a strong gap analysis process allows project managers to determine where the business is—and where it wants to be.

If you’re wondering how to do a gap analysis, follow these three simple steps. Regardless of your industry, you’ll be able to apply these tips across any discipline and meet your business goals.

1. Analyze your current state

For those wondering how to do a gap analysis, you first need to discover what we’re calling “the once and future you”—where your organization currently is and where you would like to be.

Start with your current state. Your analysis can include qualitative information, such as team processes/methodologies, and quantitative information, such as the number of sales calls made each week. In fact, your gap analysis process should evaluate everything you currently do so you get the “big picture.”

2. Identify the ideal future state

Once you have a big picture figured out and understand how your team or organization currently functions, you need to become strategically idealistic. Where would you like to be? What’s not happening that should be? What could be happening that hasn’t before—or maybe was but changed? But most importantly, what needs to happen to get there?

Maybe you have an exceptional marketing team that outsources all its content; maybe your goal is bringing that creative process back in house to meet your brand guidelines. Perhaps you realize you want to create a cultural shift to better match your product or services. The sky’s the limit, and you should dream big!

3. Bridge that gap

This is the harder part: getting from here to there. You have to determine what gaps exist and how they’re preventing you from reaching your goal. The better part is figuring out how to transcend the difficulties. Establish clear objectives that will help you actualize your transition. You can use the tools described below during this gap analysis process.

Gap analysis process tools

Many tools exist to help you bridge the gap. Whichever tool you choose, you can create any of the visuals you need in Lucidchart for free.

SWOT analysis

SWOT analysis is, perhaps, one of the oldest textbook marketing assets. SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You can perform a SWOT analysis both quantitatively and qualitatively. This process will help you determine internal and external threats to your organization and see where how you stand out against the competition.

Lucidchart acts as the ideal SWOT analysis tool. Get started with this template!

SWOT Analysis 

McKinsey 7S Framework

The McKinsey framework was developed by its eponymous consulting firm. It ultimately helps determine whether a company is meeting expectations and actualizes the shared values of an organization. It works through the 7 S’s of an organization to see what values cross over. Additionally, this framework bridges the gap between the company’s present and desired states.

McKinsey 7S Framework 

Nadler-Tushman Model

Perhaps the most dynamic of the models, the Nadler-Tushman model examines how each business process affects another and identifies which gaps affect efficiency. It creates a holistic view of your organization’s operational processes from beginning (input) to end (output).

Nadler-Tushman Model

The model finds gaps by comprising your organization’s processes into three groups:

• Input: Entire company culture and workforce; all resources used to create product/service, and operational environment
• Transformation: The systems, teams, and processes that take the input value(s) and turn them into the output product
• Output: The final product or service

The gap analysis process is essential for any business to streamline their operations for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. If you’re considering process improvement, take a look at how using Lucidchart can help with your endeavors!

Comment créer une invitation efficace en 5 étapes

ATTENTION : créer une invitation peut rapidement prendre du temps, et devenir un sujet à problème si vous ne faites pas attention… Le concepteur s’inquiète de la mise en page, le patron veut avoir son mot à dire sur l’emplacement du logo, le rédacteur passe toute la nuit sur la copie …etc. En réalité, une invitation réussie à un événement est très simple à produire. Voici comment :

Une bonne invitation…

-1 …est courte, jolie et concise.

Le but de l’invitation est de piquer la curiosité du destinataire, de ne pas divulguer tous les détails de l’information sur l’événement. Quoi apporter, où se garer, ou encore comment s’y rendre sont des choses importantes à savoir, mais elles ne doivent pas apparaitre dans l’invitation. Ces détails seront couverts plus tard, par la communication événementielle.

Questions pratiques :
Demander à vos amis de lire le brouillon de votre invitation, puis quelques jours plus tard, demander leur ce qu’ils ont retenu : Se sont-ils souvenus en quoi l’événement était intéressant pour eux ?

-2 …doit séduire.

Une bonne invitation est un peu comme une publicité. Le sujet principal est réduit à trois phrases, mais tout n’est pas révélé. Laissez une part à l’imagination ! Plus vous insérez d’informations dans votre invitation, moins le destinataire en retiendra. Pensez votre invitation comme un trailer de film. Inciter le destinataire au point qu’il n’est qu’une seule envie : cliquer sur le lien d’inscription pour avoir plus d’information.

Questions pratiques : 
Pourquoi le destinataire devrait-il cliquer pour en apprendre davantage sur votre événement? Est-ce clairement indiqué dans votre invitation?

 

-3 …est envoyé dans les temps.

Régulièrement, nous constatons que les invitations aux événements sont souvent envoyées trop tard. La cause habituelle : l’organisateur est souvent en attente de confirmation de la restauration, d’un divertissement ou quelque chose d’autre qui n’a rien à voir avec l’invitation elle-même.
Ces aspects techniques de l’événement sont importants pour vous, mais pas pour vos participants. Pour eux, la chose la plus importante est d’être en mesure de mettre votre événement dans leurs horaires chargés.

Questions pratiques :
Suis je certain que le choix de restaurant de mon évènement affectera davantage les chiffres de présence (no-show) que la date ? Ou que le fait que j’envoie mon invitation bien en avance ?

 

-4 …contient un appel à l’action.

” Date à retenir ! ”

” Réservez votre place en cliquant ici ! ”

Assurez-vous que votre invitation contient un appel clair et littéral à l’action. Encouragez le destinataire à agir immédiatement. Une invitation qui se contente de raconter, mais ne vous invite pas, est comme un dépliant de la pizzeria sur la route. C’est très oubliable (mais nous n’avons rien contre les pizzas, au contraire ☺).

Questions pratiques :
Encore une fois, demandez l’aide d’un spectateur innocent – demandez à quelqu’un de lire et de commenter. Le message est-il assez fort? Votre lecteur se sent-il obligé de répondre?

 

-5 …est répétitive et personnalisable.

Oh non, personne n’a réagi à votre invitation! Ne vous inquiétez pas, lorsque votre invitation est bien construite, cela vaut la peine de la répéter. Changez légèrement le message, signalez que la date limite d’inscription arrive bientôt et renvoyez l’invitation aux invités qui n’ont pas répondu. Assurez-vous de ne pas déranger ceux qui se sont déjà inscrits ou refusés avec une autre invitation.

Personne n’est agacé par une invitation répétée, si le message est assez intéressant. Une feuille de format A4 de détails de l’événement ne mérite presque jamais une seconde lecture.

Avez-vous entendu parler de la méthode 3T ? C’est un modèle de planification pour les concepts d’événements et la communication d’événements. Nous avons écrit un guide gratuit à ce sujet, n’hésitez pas à y jeter un œil !