Quality is like Talent


In the article,The Battle for Your Attention on the Strategy & Business pages, Michael J. Wolf analyzes developments in the entertainment industry and concludes that, in an increasingly fragmented industry, talent will rise to the top but that it is expensive.

This article could have been written about almost any branch of business with talent reflected in the quality of the product or service offered. In many areas, we have more choices and we choose the same way less often. Sure, The Titanic, Windows, AOL and MacDonald's have dominated their markets but there are also lots of little players who are collectively getting a bigger share of the pie.

Interestingly enough, the dominant players have not achieved dominance by competing on price but rather by best meeting the needs of their market. The message is that, if you can satisfy your target market, you can set your price and use the money to maintain your quality. For the small business, this means that if you can identify a market niche which you know well and which you know you can satisfy, you can set pricing which will let you cover your costs and make a good living. You will never be the least expensive but your target market will know that quality, like talent, costs money.

With more and more markets becoming more and more fragmented, the scope for successful small businesses is constantly increasing. While big players are consolidating to deal with the high costs of servicing these fragmented markets, a small business just has to find its niche.

So, for your successful small business, you are active in a highly fragmented market. You target small market segments in which the potential customers are easily accessible to you. You determine what needs these potential customers have with regard to your products. You satisfy these needs better than anyone else. You charge a price which will give you a satisfactory return and allow you to maintain the highest quality. That's it. Live happily ever after.

The copyright of the article Quality is like Talent in Small Business is owned by Bert Markgraf. Permission to republish Quality is like Talent in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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