Issues considered during the Workshop

What are the overall economic objectives for the business? Consider Revenue and Profitability (Gross Margin) over the whole model period. Be realistic!

How is your business structured in terms of Products and Markets? Do you describe your market in terms of geographic territory, user benefit, application etc, or do you use some other means for ‘segmenting’ your customer base? What solutions to you offer? Are all of your products and services directed to all segments of the market, or are some products sold into some areas, but not into others? Are there any markets not currently included within your portfolio that you should be tackling? Do any of the opportunities represent genuine new markets, free of competition and which can justifiably be considered 'blue oceans'.

What is your growth path? Is your business focused upon a low risk ‘Penetration’ strategy, where current products are directed towards current markets? Or do you intend to pursue a higher risk ‘Product’ or ‘Market Expansion’ strategy, or the highest risk ‘Diversification’ strategy, which involves selling new products into new markets?

What constitutes an ‘Attractive’ market opportunity and why? Having performed an external audit, list the key criteria that the ‘ideal’ market would need to satisfy. Examples might be ‘high market growth’, ‘fit with core skills’, ‘potential for account development’ etc. How would these criteria rank against each other in terms of importance? Applying scores to each factor then provides a rigorous basis for comparing the ‘attractiveness’ of each of the opportunities available to you. Are any opportunities particularly attractive - or particularly unattractive?

What are your competitive strengths and weaknesses? This question needs to be addressed from the customer's perspective. Describe what the market truly values. Do buyers always purchase the cheapest solution available; or do some customers value a ‘quality’ product or service, and pay a premium? Having identified the market ‘wants and needs’, how do you and your key competitors compare? Has a clear ‘market leader’ emerged? Does it offer a world class product which performs well against all requirements, or does it perform particularly well against one value driver (for example ‘Price’), but poorly against all others?

What is the total value of each market sector being addressed? Can you estimate Revenues? Is the market increasing (or decreasing), and if so can you estimate the pattern of year-on-year growth? Does any one supplier enjoy a majority share of the market? Has this always been the case, or are new suppliers emerging as market leaders? Is it likely that customers will find ‘substitute’ solutions in the near future?

Is your portfolio balanced? Will you be able to fund all of the required initiatives; or are you trying to develop too many opportunities with too little resource? Do you continue to pump too much capital into ventures which by now should be generating cash? Would it be advisable to withdraw from certain markets, and concentrate efforts on where you are most likely to be successful? What would be the short and longer term effects of such action on bottom line profits?

Are you likely to meet your required financial objectives with your current portfolio? Should you consider diversifying into new products and / or new markets in order to ‘bridge the gap’ between your objectives and your forecast? If your financial objectives are too ambitious, then should they be revised downwards so that they can be attained more easily?

Has the correct balance between ‘Risk’ and ‘Return’ been achieved? Are you proposing too many ‘high risk’ ventures, and would it be advisable to moderate your expectations. Could your portfolio be further‘optimised’ by dropping certain ‘loss leaders’, or must these be retained so that you remain a credible player within the market? Indeed, is it time to review your overall mission? What would be the knock-on effect of these actions be in terms of resources? And how would you ‘roll out’ the required strategy?