SICK OF HAVING CHUNKS RIPPED OUT OF YOUR BUSINESS?

What is Blue Ocean strategy?

How do you develop profitable growth while swimming in an ocean of competition? We have all worked for and with organisations that are looking to outperform rivals to grab a larger slice of the industry pizza.

What does this environment lead too?

• Profit margins that shrink
• Industries becoming commoditized
• A creation of me-too products

But how many have truly developed growth in both top and the bottom line performance? In the method of Blue ocean strategy, this is called red oceans whereby the competition is acting as sharks and taking bites out of each other.

So how do you avoid this?

The Blue ocean strategy turns this on its head and focuses on redefining Industry boundaries by creating uncontested market spaces where competition is irrelevant, you invent and capture new demand by introducing value innovation. Value innovation is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost, Salesforce.com is a perfect example of this strategy and a case study can be found at https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/teaching-materials/salesforce-com/

So what are the main differences between a blue and red ocean?

So how do you begin creating blue oceans?

Firstly we need to understand the logic behind the Blue ocean strategy

• It’s not about technology innovation
• Blue oceans seldom result from technological innovation, often the underlying technology already exists and blue ocean creators link the value to what buyers value
• You don’t have to stray too far away from the red ocean
• You can create blue oceans within your core business, just by changing the value delivered to customers

Some simple tips to start applying blue ocean thinking

• Never use the competition as a benchmark, instead make the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for both yourself and your customers.
• Reduce costs while also offering customers more value. Review what you are delivering to customers and ask “Is this something that customers want or are we just assuming this?” This will allow you to break out of the industry shackles.

Start applying right away

So what are the results of converting to a blue ocean strategy?

• Increased profits
• Faster growth
• Brand equity that lasts as rivals struggle to catch up

In the next post on the Blue Ocean strategy, I will be discussing how to identify a starting point for your journey.