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Happy New Year to everyone!

Despite the fact that we are currently being bombarded with doom & gloom
 as we enter 2009, the fact remains that strong businesses will survive with
many getting even stronger.  The current economic environment is an
opportunity to review the foundations of your business and ensure your
time and effort is targeted in the areas that will reap the most rewards.

The first step in this process is to review and understand your Sustainable
Competitive Advantage ("SCA").

Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA)

Determining the SCA for your business requires an understanding of your
customer’s needs and preferences. No matter what industry you are in, whether it
is Manufacturing, Retail or Real Estate, everyone needs to have an SCA!

In marketing, SCA represents an advantage that one business has relative to a
competing business. For an SCA to be effective it must be:

- Sustainable
- Hard to Copy
- Unique
- Superior to the competition
- Applicable to multiple situations

A competitive advantage arises out of activities that provides high value to the
customer and the supplier has a strong ability to beat their competitors. Examples
of SCA's include factors such as quickest turnaround time, high product quality,
low cost production techniques, patents and copyrights, government protection
or simply a good reputation.

Similar to when an organisation has a clear vision, the benefits of understanding
your SCA include:

- Quicker decision making
- Better time management
- Keeping you focused on the customers

Without a clear picture of your SCA you may find yourself going around in circles
with no clear strategy. Identify and understand your SCA and it will become an
integral part of your business and an essential driver in any decision making
process.

Summarise your SCA in a simple specific statement. This is what we call the “We
Win” statement. For example:

“We will win by having the best response time in our industry.”

It is also useful to have a “We Will Not Win” statement such as;

“We will NOT win by simply competing on price.”

Of course, there’s more than one way you can win in the marketplace. You just
need to find the way that will provide the most value to your customers and the
greatest impact on you and your business.

To sustain your SCA through today’s fast changing competitive environment an
organisation must be alert, agile and always able to find an advantage no matter
what changes occur. You therefore need to ensure your SCA is regularly checked
and formally reviewed each year to keep a step ahead of the current environment
and to implement strategy changes. Take note that this is not a process to be
rushed; getting it wrong could bring out the worst key issues. Take time to
reflect on your potential SCA before you commit.

Having a clear SCA is critical to the success of your business – especially
now!

Do you know your SCA? Do you need to revisit your SCA given the current
marketplace?

Contact a member of the Business Improvement Team at UHY Haines Norton
Brisbane or your usual contact to initiate the first step towards greater
improvements to your business in 2009!

Rowan Wallace 
John Knight         
Dean Vane

 
Bean Thinking About Something Else?
Past Newsletters

Bean Thinking...	Tips for businesses affected by the floods
Bean Thinking...	Budget 2010/11
Bean Thinking...	Henry Review
Bean Thinking...	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Bean Thinking...	7 Deadly Wastes
Bean Thinking...	What-ifs
Bean Thinking Tax...	ATO Crackdown on Tax Debts!
Bean Thinking Tax...	R & D Tax Concessions
Bean Thinking Tax...	Recovery of Land Tax
Bean Thinking Tax...	Last Minute Tax Planning Tips
Bean Thinking Super...	Avoid Excess Super Contributions
Bean Thinking Real Estate...	Changes to Comission Structures
Bean Thinking Real Estate...	Benchmarks!
Bean Thinking Real Estate...	Purple Cows

Past Presentations

Bean Thinking Real Estate...	Good, Bad & Ugly: Real Estate Business
Bean Thinking Super...	Super + Borrowing = ?
Bean Thinking Super...	Borrowing inside Super "How does it work?"
Bean Thinking...	Goals & Strategies for 2010/11
Bean Thinking...	Tax Time for Unit Owners

UHY Haines Norton Brisbane Level 11, 42-60 Albert Street GPO Box 2876 Brisbane Qld 4000       P: 07 3210 5500 F: 07 3229 6174     E: brisbane@uhyhn.com.au www.uhyhnbrisbane.com.au UHY Haines Norton Gold Coast Level 9, 1 Corporate Court Bundall QLD 4217 P: 07 5510 4836 E: goldcoast@uhyhn.com.au

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