Strategic Insights
Perspectives on growth, capital discipline, and enterprise value.
A Profitable Market Is Not an Available One
A market showing strong margins looks like the obvious place to grow. Entering it without something the customers cannot already get leaves price as the only way in.
READ ARTICLE →The Cost of Dropping Your Most Demanding Customers
Engineering hours spent on a demanding customer look like cost, so executives cut them first. The savings is small, and the customer you just cut may be the one showing you where your market is going.
READ ARTICLE →Which Growth Initiatives Would Survive a Profit-Pool Review?
Two growth initiatives can look equally attractive on a revenue forecast. Only one of them is worth funding, and a profit-pool review is how you tell them apart before the money goes out the door.
READ ARTICLE →Where the Profit Actually Lives
Most companies can describe their revenue in detail and their profit only in the aggregate. The gap between those two views is where the wrong kind of growth hides.
READ ARTICLE →Two Kinds of Spending, One Downturn Plan
A downturn plan graded on the size of the cut rewards the wrong thing. Here is the line between costs that should flex with volume and the capability investments that determine next-cycle position.
READ ARTICLE →Why the Same Product Can Command Four Times the Price
Two companies sell what looks like the same product, and one charges four times the price. The difference is rarely branding. It is who carries the risk.
READ ARTICLE →Know Where the Profit Exists Before Deciding Where to Grow
Revenue is easy to slice. Profit is harder to see, and it is the number that decides whether the growth you are chasing is worth having.
READ ARTICLE →Revenue Share and Profit Share Are Not the Same Number
Revenue share and profit share are different numbers, and they can move in opposite directions at the same time. This is why the biggest company in a market may have the most revenue, while the best one is defined by its share of the profits.
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