ZEL

I.                     Preparing for Growth Sustained growth is growth in both revenues and profits over a sustained period. 1.        Appreciating the Nature of Business Growth         Growing a business successfully requires preparation, good management, and an appreciation of the issues involved. 2.        Staying Committed to a Core Strategy         If a business become distracted or starts pursuing every opportunity for growth that presents itself, the business can easily stray into competitive disadvantage areas. 3.        Planning for Growth         Involves a firm thinking ahead and anticipating the type and amount of growth to achieve.

I.                     The Importance of Intellectual Property Intellectual property is any product of human intellect that is intangible but has value in the marketplace. It is called “intellectual” property because it is the product of human imagination, creativity, and inventiveness. Common mistakes that entrepreneurial firms make are not properly identifying all their intellectual property and not taking sufficient steps to protect it. 1.        Determining What Intellectual Property to Legally Protect (1)     Determine if the intellectual property in question is directly related to its competitive advantage. (2)     Determine whether an item has value in the marketplace 2.        The Four Key Forms of Intellectual Property  

I. Selecting a Market and Establishing a Position 1.   Segmenting the Market Study the industry in which the firm intends to compete and determine the different potential target markets in that industry. Markets can be segmented in many ways, such as by geography, demographic and psycho-graphics variables, etc. 2.   Selecting a Target Market 3.   Crafting a Unique Market Position Establish a  “position” within the target market that differentiates a firm from its competitors. A helpful technique is to develop a product attribute map, which illustrates a firm’s positioning ...