Sudhir Ahluwalia's Blog, page 15

How do companies go around finding companies to acquire?

There are multiple modes that companies use to make an acquisition. Let me list some of the popular ones for you.

A corporate development internal team initiates a search for the right candidate: The acquiring company’s leadership outlines the skills, business area, and geography of an acquisition target to the internal team. The team then starts looking for the right fit.An acquisition forms part of a business expansion strategy. As a business advisor to a corporation, I used this mode to achieve rapid exponential business growth. If this is a preferred mode for you, then identifying a suitable acquisition target is done as part of the sales effort.Brokers and broking firms maintain a list of targets that companies can pick and choose from. Nowadays, you have online platforms where a list of targets is readily available. You can subscribe to these platforms and look around for the right fit. Many of these platforms are sector-specific.

Professional credentials:

Strategy

Business model innovation

Marketing strategy Similar Posts:

Why does a company need to set sustainability goals?What are the main reason behind unsuccessful companies?What is the relationship that exists between organizational structure and strategy?

The post How do companies go around finding companies to acquire? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

How do brands succeed in staying as market leaders for long periods of time?

Let me pick market leaders like Tesla, Amazon, Google, and Starbucks. All four have been market leaders in their business segments for some time.
Tesla has built a unique product that competitors like the traditional auto companies have not been able to match in terms of quality, uniqueness, innovation, and branding. Elon Musk, the leader, has built Tesla around innovation. The product and the leader are recognized for their ability to create products several steps ahead of competitors. The competitors have been unable to match Tesla.
Amazon is built around innovation too. Amazon, too operates on a scale that competitors are unable to match. Like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos is fearless in exploring and entering areas where very few would like to tread.
Google does not have a central founding figure like Bezos or Musk. The product and service are at the center of customers’ preferences. Constant innovation and consistency of efforts are keeping it ahead in the search and advertisement space. The company does face competition from Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple in certain components of Google’s business. Still, dedication and a constantly evolving business process have helped keep Google ahead of the race.
Starbucks, although in a different market segment, strength lies in its service quality, product consistency, and ability to build a brand whose products are preferred by customers worldwide. Like Google, the value chain, business process, and marketing strategy keep this brand ahead of competitors.
In summary, you will note that rarely one factor makes a brand a market leader. It is a combination of several things. It is, in all cases, a combination of strategy, business model, and marketing strategy.

Credentials:

Business strategy

Business model innovation

Marketing strategy Similar Posts:

Should innovation be integral to a company’s culture?Why do business enterprises continually demand growth?How can you enhance your restaurant’s marketing strategy?

The post How do brands succeed in staying as market leaders for long periods of time? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

Should innovation be integral to a company’s culture?

Innovation is a critical component for triggering and sustaining growth in any company. Look around, and you will see that to be true. Meta, Alphabet, Walmart, Uber, Alibaba, Airbnb, Tesla, SpaceX, and so on have achieved a competitive advantage over competitors.
Airbnb is a platform business model company that is in the growth stage. Its customer-centric vision is supported by continuous product innovation. The company has succeeded in disrupting the hospitality industry.
Walmart is a mature stage company. It has succeeded in keeping itself ahead of the competition for over fifty years. The company has prevented going into decline through sustained innovative digital transformation.
Apple is an innovative product company. It has a dedicated following who love the user-friendly designs of Apple products. The company has stayed on a sustained growth path behind its innovative products. A product design-focused organization and business processes have helped the company reach a valuation of over US$2trillion.
Elon Musk has acquired a reputation of being one of the most innovation-focused founders in the US. His ventures are known to operate on the frontiers of science and innovation. Elon Musk’s companies, SpaceX and Tesla, have an Agile business model. These are companies that are in the Growth stage. The pace of innovation of Musk’s companies is comparable to those displayed by startups.
And I can go on and on.
Make innovation part of your company culture, deploy the right strategy, use a business model that best fits your company, deploys appropriate marketing tools, and focus on your customer. And you will have a successful, thriving company.

Credentials:

Business strategy

Business model innovation

Marketing Strategy Similar Posts:

What makes a business successful?How does product design contribute to the success of a company?What are the main reason behind unsuccessful companies?

The post Should innovation be integral to a company’s culture? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

What are the main reason behind unsuccessful companies?

Companies fail when they lose their competitive advantage.
You lose your competitive advantage when the product or service you sell is identical or similar to your competitor and more expensive.
Other common reasons for loss of competitive advantage are:
Your margins cannot cover your costs. Costs include the cost of funds, overheads, employee costs, transportation and service costs, regulation, and general mismanagement.
Most companies’ failure is attributed to poor leadership. If your company is struggling, the first thing that you should do is to change the leader. Successful companies understand this. They affect leadership change when they realize that the company has started performing badly and is likely to become sick.
The chances of new companies failing are higher than older companies. It is because the founders who created these companies do not have the skills to run them. But they keep clinging to the company. In time these companies disappear.
In my experience with sick companies, I have seen this play out repeatedly. The leader almost always thinks that the problem lies with his management team. The last company I worked to turn around had the founder cum CEO offering me to run the company with him jointly.
I knew that divided leadership is the worst way to run a company, and the offer was promptly turned down instantly.
If your company is struggling, begin by moving yourself out. Let someone else run it for you.

Certification credentials:

Business strategy

Business model innovation

Marketing strategy Similar Posts:

Is Microsoft capable of surviving a volatile business environment?What is the reason for McDonald’s success even though many brand its products junk food?What are the business expansion strategies in marketing?

The post What are the main reason behind unsuccessful companies? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

How do I build a business that customer’s trust?

Starbucks, Tata companies, and Walmart are some companies that evoke trust. The trust has been built over time by providing their customers with products and services that are consistent and reliable. It will be wrong to conclude that these companies do not make mistakes. All do, but companies that customers trust have credible mechanisms to handle customer complaints. Do these mechanisms always succeed in satisfying customer complaints? No, but they make a sincere effort in complaint resolution.
Customer trust is built by following an internal code of ethics. This code of ethics is applied across the organization from top to bottom. I have seen the code of ethics being followed in my ten years with the Tata group. I have also experienced it as a customer of many of these companies.
How does a company secure customer trust? You begin by looking at your internal business processes. These must be continually refined and developed to ensure the quality and consistency of service and products. The business processes may not be the most efficient. The focus is on quality and business excellence.
Such companies also focus on providing shareholder value but with a difference. There is a lot of emphasis on issues like diversity, gender justice, non-discrimination, and governance. Such actions may not immediately profit accretive, but they help build customer trust and company brand.
You build customer trust by working on the DNA of the company. The business strategy, business models, and business processes all help build trust.

Professional Certification:

Strategy planning

Business model innovation

Marketing strategy Similar Posts:

Is Microsoft capable of surviving a volatile business environment?What are the strategies used for growth in an organization?What is the difference between business policy and business strategy?

The post How do I build a business that customer’s trust? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

How should startups prepare themselves to ride the upcoming US recession?

The US economy is substantially driven by consumption. A recession will reduce demand and adversely affect the balance sheets of households. Corporations will get into a cost-cutting mode, and fresh investments will diminish. The cost of capital will rise, and investors will become more cautious in putting new money into projects.
Startups will find it difficult to raise funds. Investors will mark up risk when they decide to invest. It will raise costs for startups forcing them to take a re-look at their business models. With the rise in risk sentiment, investors will want to look at businesses with clear near-time visibility of profits.
In this scenario, startups should start looking at international markets for customers. Expectations are that the US recession will be short but sharp. It could end by the middle of next year. Startups should use this period to test customer demand for their goods and services in the international markets but prepare to enter the US markets as and when the recession ends, and demand re-emerges.

Certification:

Business strategy

Business model innovation

Marketing strategy Similar Posts:

Has the time come to stress on sustainable operational management of startups?How long (or short) should a startup company pitch deck be?Fundraising – Early Stage Startups

The post How should startups prepare themselves to ride the upcoming US recession? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

With the size that the Indian IT services companies have reached, does this appear sustainable for the long term?

The demand for IT services continues to be strong. Consistent double-digit growth over the past decades is a testament to the rising demand. Automation is now integral to nearly all processes. Capabilities to train and skill people to acquire new skills are limited. India is one of the countries that has succeeded in building an IT skilling and training infrastructure that can about manage this demand.
I joined TCS in 2000. I think we were just under 10000 professionals in the company then. Today they are 500,000 strong, and the numbers are rising. Deal sizes today with the Indian IT majors now go into their billions.
However, the Indian IT companies business models have hardly undergone any change. They continue to be skilled resources suppliers to the ever-increasing IT needs of the world. Look at the ubiquitous requirement of today’s world. IT solutions are deployed as cost reduction and efficiency improvement measures in a recession. In times of growth, automation is used to maintain and keep pace with production.
I do not envisage the situation changing over the coming decades. Companies like TCS and others will continue to grow. Staffing needs will rise, and these companies’ size and revenues will continue to grow consistently.
The companies will keep talking about going up the value chain but make no change to their business model. And why should they? The existing models are doing great for them.
Startups are betting on the domestic consumption of India. With the rise in incomes, this segment will continue to grow exponentially. These will operate on an online-offline model. The talent pool available in the country can easily meet the startup IT skill requirements.
As gross capital formation shifts in favor of the private sector in India (Today, it is still abysmally small, around 22 percent), the economy may start feeling the need to develop innovative solutions. It is then that a new cycle of higher-skilled people will emerge. It is these changes that will drive change in the IT landscape of India.
The current IT companies will continue to service the needs of the global economy. The emerging domestic-driven startups will be the harbinger of change in the IT landscape of the country. I think this may happen in a decade.

Credentials:

Business strategy

Business model innovation

Marketing strategy Similar Posts:

Why do startups keep disrupting dominant companies of today?Why do organizations change their structure?How sustainable are Indian unicorn business models?

The post With the size that the Indian IT services companies have reached, does this appear sustainable for the long term? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

Why can’t the free market and private enterprise provide all what we want?

A free market and private enterprise work best when healthy competition prevails, and citizens receive their needs and want at a price point that is competitive and provides a fair return to shareholders. But we know that is an ideal state. Private enterprise is driven by the desire to maintain a competitive advantage over competitors. It uses all the tools in management to stay ahead of the game. When extended beyond a point, it drives competitors out of competition and turns monopolistic. At this stage, free market and private enterprise secure unrestrained pricing power. In this state, the customers are losers.

Regulation is critical for a system’s health based on the free market and private enterprise. An independent body respected by all is an essential feature of a good regulator. It is here that the role of the state begins to come in. When we continue to build on this argument, we will find that certain functions like national and state security will fall under the purview of the state.

The role of the state extends beyond national and state security and regulation. Society contains underdogs, the disadvantaged, poor, vulnerable, and the weak. They, too, have the right to live and thrive. They must also be allowed to leverage their strengths and emerge as winners. Whatever system a society decides is good, it has to cater to these needs. Much of these needs can also be met by private enterprises. Private enterprises will require to be structured for this purpose.

The UNDP’s sustainable goals must be met in a fair and just society. For ready reference, here is the list of the 17 goals:

(1) No Poverty,

(2) Zero Hunger,

(3) Good Health and Well-being,

(4) Quality Education

(5) Gender Equality

(6) Clean Water and Sanitation

(7) Affordable and Clean Energy

(8) Decent Work and Economic Growth

(9) Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

(10) Reduced Inequality

(11) Sustainable Cities and Communities

(12) Responsible Consumption and Production

(13) Climate Action

(14) Life Below Water

(15) Life On Land

(16) Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

(17) Partnerships for the Goals.

When we debate the role of private enterprise, we need to bear that these goals should be met, irrespective of who is the provider.

Certification:

Climate change: Financial Risks and Opportunities

Business strategy Similar Posts:

Does sustainability have a future?How is sustainability catching on in your country?Why does a company need to set sustainability goals?

The post Why can’t the free market and private enterprise provide all what we want? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

Do fennel seeds raise blood pressure?

Fennel is a familiar cooking herb in the Mediterranean and is popular in the whole belt from Greece to Egypt. Ancient Romans cultivated fennel for its aromatic seeds and edible shoots. Ancient Egyptians, too, used fennel both in food and as medicine.

In Chinese medicine, fennel is believed to strengthen eyesight, relieve cough, assist digestion, and treat stomach ailments, menstrual, and respiratory disorders. A poultice made from fennel was externally applied as a remedy for snake and scorpion bites. The Chinese believe that fennel brings balance to qi. Fennel was used in traditional Chinese medicine as a laxative to treat colds and liver, kidney, and spleen ailments.

In Ayurveda, fennel is considered good for digestive disorders and a general tonic.

Fennel’s medicinal properties have been consolidated to include antioxidative, cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, bronchodilatory, estrogenic, diuretic, lithotriptic, galactagogue, emmenagogue, anti-thrombotic, hypotensive, gastroprotective, hepatoprotective, memory enhancing, and anti-mutagenic properties (Rahimi et al., 2013).

In my research review of fennel’s medicinal properties, I did come across credible references that support fennel’s property on blood pressure.

My books on herbal medicine:

Holy Herbs, Modern connections to Ancient Plants

Asian herbs and their wondrous health-giving properties

Natural Solutions tri-series on obesity, cancer, and diabetes Similar Posts:

Is pomegranate juice good for the lungs?Is turmeric with black pepper anti-inflammatory?Does ginger possess blood sugar lowering property?

The post Do fennel seeds raise blood pressure? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.

How long (or short) should a startup company pitch deck be?

Investors are in the business of making money. An investor has to determine if the risk to his investment is within his comfort zone.
You normally send an elevator pitch to multiple investors, hoping to catch his interest. Once you get a response and a meeting is set up, you know that you have got his attention. Here comes the role of the pitch deck.
The trick lies in keeping the investor interested in your business idea. I normally recommend that the pitch begins with a short description of the business idea. The first minute or two are critical. Half the battle is won in that first few minutes. (One slide)
Remember, investors are not industry experts. For example, if your project is a SAAS venture, you must explain the SAAS concept in simple language. (One slide is enough)
The next question that the deck or document should answer is how competitive your venture is in the SAAS market. I normally put the competitor information in a table. Don’t provide reams of information on the competitors. Please keep it simple and straight. Remember, you have to keep the investor hooked on your business idea. (Max two slides for this segment)
Business risk: It is another key segment of a pitch. Writing a pitch is not a task for content writers. It requires analysis and the ability to use analytical tools to enunciate the business risk. Get an expert to do the pitch, not some individual who can create pretty graphics (2 slides are normally enough)
If you have succeeded in keeping the investor interested in your project and he has not begun checking his mobile, it is time to present a high-level work plan (One slide is all that you need to create)
The next slide is high-level numbers. No detailed worksheet or financial analysis is required. That is needed only in cases when you are into second-round funding.
One more slide, and this is the last slide, is a two-minute sketch of the founders.
My description above is a nine-slider deck. The analysis and thinking is the most critical part of a pitch deck. Think through each word. Get the best expert to do a deck, and don’t rush him to give it to you in a week.
I wish you the best of luck!

Certification:

Business strategy

Business model

Marketing strategy Similar Posts:

What all should a pitch deck include to cast the best impact?How do I make the winning pitch to investors?What are the key features of a business plan for popcorn production venture?

The post How long (or short) should a startup company pitch deck be? appeared first on Sudhirahluwalia, Inc.