Business Strategy Workshops

Over the years, my brand positioning workshops have evolved to something much broader. First, I added brand mission, vision and values workshops to the mix based on client requests. After that, I added pricing strategy workshops to the mix, again based on client requests. Eventually, these workshops evolved into full-blown business strategy workshops tailored for each organization and its strategic issues. The types of issues we address in the workshops include:

• Determining the organization's highly motivating purpose
• Identifying "category of one" branding opportunities
• Developing a pricing strategy the produces increased revenues and profits
• Developing a distribution strategy that best aligns with the brand while still maximizing revenues
• Rethinking the brand's unique value proposition and the organization's culture after a merger or acquisition
• Identifying additional revenue streams
• Identifying passive revenue sources
• Increasing the value of the organization to potential investors
• Identifying strategic partnerships that can strengthen the brand's position and increase its revenues
• Identifying business model options that will create barriers to entry for potential competitors
• Identifying the fastest paths to reach scale and to achieve network effects
• Identifying the optimal sequencing of activities for sustained business growth
• Identifying add-on sales and other upselling opportunities

All of this is accomplished by using the appropriate tools and templates and through skilled group facilitation, insuring that everyone's ideas and concerns are thoughtfully considered. Most of these workshops involve the CEO and his or her staff. They sometimes also include key board members, depending on the type of organization.

I concentrated on business and marketing strategy while at Harvard Business School and throughout my career. My approach is informed by Michael Porter's competitive strategy model, W. Chan Kim's and Renee Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy approach to creating uncontested market space, Peter Thiel's approach to creating successful startups, Adam Brandenburger's and Barry Nalebuff's concept of co-opetition, Thomas Nagle's and Reed Holden's approach to pricing strategy and tactics and Alexander Osterwalder's and Yves Pigneur's Business Model Generation approach to designing business models. 

To learn more about this business strategy facilitation process, email me at vanauken@brandforward.com.

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