POSITIONING

As an entrepreneur, what’s most important is to position your enterprise so that the heart and soul of what you do is on display, and… comes into play.

Positioning focuses on:

• The Founders: the reason why you have launched your enterprise;

• The Customers: why they should give you business;

• The Employees: why they should choose to work in the enterprise;

A good position is:

1. What makes you unique?

2. Why is this considered a benefit by your target market?

Positioning is how your target market defines you in relation to your competitors. It is important to understand your offerings from the customers’ point of view relative to the competition.

Consider:

1. What is your marketing environment?

2. What is your competitive advantage?

You must be able to answer this question:

What do you have that can satisfy the needs of the marketspace and that gives you an advantage over your competitors?

There are seven positioning strategies that can be pursued:

Attributes:
What are the specific attributes of your product or service?

Benefits:
What are the benefits to the customers?

Usage Occasions:
When / how / where can the product or service be used?

Users:
What class and category of users can avail of your offering?

Against Competitors:
How well positioned is your offering versus that of your competitors?

Away from Competitors:
How well positioned is your offering located away from that of your competitors?

Product Classes:
How distinctive is your offering within a range of product classifications?

[Excerpted from the 'Lifescaping' seminar participant's manual. The 'Lifescaping' seminar is conducted by Dilip Mukerjea about four times a year under the auspices of the Singapore Institute of Management.]