Informing Business Strategy Through Current State Assessments (with Kory Boyer of Redpath and Company)

Kory Boyer, Director in the M&A Advisory Practice Area at Redpath and Company, joined Mind the GAAP to discuss how to leverage a current state assessment to set a solid foundation and inform your business growth strategy. 

With all disruptions in the world—a pandemic, political, geopolitical, regulatory, technology, shifting markets, sourcing and supply chain challenges, etc.—it’s no wonder that business owners are left contemplating how to move forward with a solid business growth strategy. 

Appropriately responding to rapid change has always been, and always will be, one of the toughest hurdles business owners may face. And that’s because the decisions you make and the direction you ultimately decide to go might be too subjective and rooted in emotion or gut feeling—versus cold, hard data. 

So, what should you do as a business owner when the decisions you make seem to only be made to play “catch up” versus “getting ahead?” Establish a baseline and gather data that can help inform your decisions, set a vision, and ultimately prepare you for the future.

A current state assessment means going back to the tried and true and understanding the forces impacting your business and the overall market. Ultimately, what keeps you awake at night? Competition? New entrants? Supplier power and customer power? Threat of substitutes?

Customers

What is your customer history?

• Are you keeping or losing historical customers? 
• How are you growing? 

Of those customers that are staying:

• What do the conversations take you regarding what they’d like to see? New products? Variations to current products or services? 

Of those customers that leave you:

• Why did they leave and what are their true sensitivities? Product? Service replacement? Pricing? Customization? Customer service?   

Competition, Barriers, and Substitutes

Competition, regulatory barriers, and substitutes are highly inter-related pieces of the market puzzle, and you should consider the following:

• Where are you positioned with competition? Leader, laggard, or on par?
• Are there any high barriers to entry, including capital outlay or regulatory approvals?
• Have you seen a lot of new entrants?
• Is the market evolving? Are your products and/or services being impacted by new trends in the market (AI, on-demand, cloud, new safety, ESG, etc.)? 

Suppliers and Supply Chain

Since the pandemic, this has been a huge strategy piece due to supply chain shortages, cost hikes and continued inflation.

• What has been your biggest impact to the supply chain?  COGS, timing, or other?
• Have the suppliers started controlling the pricing and timing (less negotiations)?
• Have you evaluated multi-sourced supply chain? 

Now that you know where you are, do you know where you are going? This is a great time to revisit the objectives, priorities, and metrics of the company.

You should consider and review data regarding:

• Market development
• Market penetration
• Diversification
• Offering Development

Final Thoughts

Never stop evaluating your business. Keep it moving forward. Will Rogers once said, “Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there”. 

Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with your advisor. Even if it is over a cup of coffee and writing on a napkin. Reach out to a Redpath advisor here.