B2B Marketing and Business Strategy
We help companies expand beyond and inside their core business
Exploring new business directions often requires expertise not available internally and a focus rendered difficult by the conduct of ongoing business. We offer both: expertise and focus. Whether sorting through too many opportunities, finding the right path for problem businesses, getting out of a downward slide, or expanding in new areas, we help companies build consensus around the right decision by structuring options through market research, business cases, and business plan outlines.
Market Research and Analysis
Used to find new growth opportunities, define an effective competitive strategy, develop profitable products, or as part of due diligence of acquisitions. Market research is an inexpensive insurance policy against wasting resources on the wrong opportunity.
Market research can also be used to carve sales territory, locate Sales professionals, set up distributors and service centers, and find the right strategic partners.
Just the Right Marketing
We analyze your business to outline a Marketing plan just right for you. We take into account the nature of your business, your competitive position, your current and achievable resources, and your sales mode and capabilities.
The result, drawn from experience in a variety of industries, is an achievable plan reduced to the most valuable parts of possible activities. In several cases, we justified 80% cuts in planned spending.
Special Situations
Whenever business questions are not answered with internal data or are outside of the routine conduct of business, we can provide answers and support them with research, analysis and business experience.
Where can we raise prices? Should we invest or ignore this business unit? Can you help us create a strategic plan? Outline a licensing deal for discussion? Prepare a pitch deck to sell the business? These are just a few examples of questions we have addressed.
Sample Results
100% Growth in 8 years through New Market Entry
The company, a small specialty manufacturer, had 30% capacity utilization and prices 20 times those of its generic competition. We leveraged the company technology platform to target markets where it provided the most value and would command the highest margin. This achievement would not be remarkable except for the formidable cost constraints.
Innovative Technology Transfer for High Margin
By introducing aerospace technology into a very conservative market, the steel industry, a startup, a company with no established name or credibility, achieved prices 10 times those of what it replaced. Its products outlasted existing products only by a factor of 4 to 1. Key was recognizing and focusing on where the greatest value was provided.
Reversing Margin Decline with Innovative Uses
Shrinking demand resulted in 50% overcapacity and decreasing margins. All competitive products were functionally equivalent. All adjacent opportunities to this market had been exploited. The new product opportunities were spotted by working with R&D to identify the intrinsic properties of the material and infer where they would be valued. These applications were not on any radar screen.
Segment Focus for 900% Growth in 8 years
The company was a chemical company with only 4 commodity products and the highest costs of production and logistics in the industry. This growth was achieved by serially entering new markets. In spite of its handicaps, the company managed to increase the size and profitability of its average account while growing these new markets.
Evaluation of expected ROI cuts R&D waste by 80%
We designed and implemented a Stage Gate process that vetted R&D projects by estimating project costs and ROI at an early stage. This led to closing 80% of the projects and focusing on the most promising ones.
A Revamped Product Line Drives Growth Through Distribution
A product line of 47 disparate products was consolidated into a cohesive and easy to understand collection of 12 products focused on a single market. Providing clear selection tools in addition drove private labeling and distributor adoption of the entire line. The reduction delivered growth and cost savings through streamlining of manufacturing.
What People Say
