Commercial Growth Strategy
Commercial strategy in the most simplistic form is about where you want to be and how do you want to get there. Innate in any commercial strategy is growth. Where is your growth coming from? Is the growth scalable and sustainable? Are you in the right place or going to be in the right place to capture this growth? Do you have the right portfolio, resources, and capabilities to capture this growth?
To address these questions, we have developed a commercial growth strategy model consideration of Thrive, Geographic expansion, Intensification and Fortress building (Exhibit 1 – TGIF Commercial Growth Strategy Framework). Documenting where your expected growth is coming from into this model will help guide your strategic roadmap. For example, if you expect growth from existing market that you are actively competing in (lower quadrant), you will best consider how to capture market shares and gain market leadership as quickly as possible with or without new capabilities and resources requirement. On the other hand, careful strategic consideration is vital if the expected growth is coming from a different geographic market and a disruptive product may have just being launched by a competitor (upper left quadrant). For most organization, your commercial growth strategy would likely be from either or a combination of:
- Geographical and/or channel expansion into new market or indication to reach and engage more clients
- Portfolio/service expansion and capabilities building to improve competitiveness.
Exhibit 1: TGIF Commercial Growth Strategy Framework
- T: Thrive business growth by gaining access to new markets with new resources and capabilities
- G: Geographic expansion into new region away from corporate headquarters.
- I: Intensifying growth with brand new resources and capabilities to further create value
- F: Fortress building of strengthening market leadership in existing market with existing resources and capabilities
Value Creation and Differentiation
For a business to grow and thrive, value creation is vital, and this could be considered through the “Build, Borrow or Buy” framework by Professors Laurence Capron and Will Mitchell (1). The values that you bring will serve to differentiate you and confer competitive advantages in closing the opportunity. Whether are you planning to grow by geographic expansion or building/acquiring the next disruptive technology, a strategic growth roadmap is crucial to establish your value creation journey and differentiation advantages.
Value differentiation could be broadly classified into 6 categories of Brand, Relationship, Channel, Products, Services and Price (Table 1). Gaining leadership in any of these categories helps you to create barrier of entry that your competitors will need time and resources to overcome. While there are different ways of differentiation, they are not all equally effective. Time and resources needed to develop each of them varies widely and critically, they do not last forever. It is thus essential to have the mindset of continuous value creation and anticipating market direction to avoid the trap of complacency that had befallen many businesses before.
Prioritization and Staging of Resources
While developing differentiation in all categories are advantageous, significant resources are needed to “build, borrow, or buy” all at the same time. Prioritization and balancing the short-term goals against the long-term growth objective are needed to determine where to devote your resources. While your business will likely be considering a combination of these differentiation factors, maintaining flexibility and agility will provide great advantages in being nimble and adjusting to the ever-changing market condition.
An often-neglected consideration is staging. Investing in new capabilities building, product or services launch or channel expansion program at the right place, right time is a critical success factor. Follow us on LinkedIn or contact us as we dive deeper into each of the value differentiator to help you build a stronger understanding of how to use the TGIF and Value Differentiation Framework to build your commercial growth strategy.
Asia Dx Consultancy is a boutique consultancy firm where we use data driven approaches to create actionable strategies to help you unlock your business potential in Asia Pacific. With in-depth knowledge of the region, we are here to help guide your business success and avoid any latent pitfalls. Contact us today for aid in creating your go to market strategic plans.
References:
1 Build, Borrow or Buy Framework. Laurence Capron | Build, Borrow or Buy (build-borrow-buy.com).
Glossary
TGIF Framework – Thrive, Geographic expansion, Intensification, Fortress building
