Business specialization and market diversification

The business specialization and market diversification of small and medium-sized enterprises have entered the era of global competition. The degree of fierce competition is unprecedented in any historical period in the past, and it is still deepening, and the situation is becoming increasingly severe. Compared with large enterprises, small and medium-sized enterprises are facing a greater crisis

Stiglitz, former vice president and chief economist of the world bank and Nobel Laureate in economics, pointed out that the current process of globalization is driven by the interests of international companies, which intensifies world inequality. When foreign enterprises enter, they often destroy local competitors and attack the ambition of many small and medium-sized enterprises to develop national industries

in a sense, the essence of globalization is a kind of "neocolonialism"

China's small and medium-sized enterprises account for more than 95% of the total number of enterprises in the country, and three quarters of China's urban employed population work in small and medium-sized enterprises. Statistics also show that small and medium-sized enterprises are the most dynamic economic entities in China. 65% of patented technologies, more than 75% of technological innovations and 80% of new products are developed by small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, large enterprises are also developed from small and medium-sized enterprises. Undoubtedly, the future of China's economy depends more on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises

Stiglitz also pointed out that unemployment is more harmful than waste. It is likely to destroy the entire market economy, and the engine of creating new jobs is small and medium-sized enterprises

then, how should small and medium-sized enterprises respond to the challenges of globalization

German enterprises will use this kind of instrument, "invisible champion mode" provides us with the best reference

German management professor Herman Simon began to study German small and medium-sized enterprises because he was asked such a problem during his visit to Harvard Business School in the United States: German enterprises are not outstanding in the ranking of the world's top 500, but why can they become the world's top exporter and world economic power

10 years of research results surprised him. It turns out that the mainstay of Germany's export trade and even the overall economy is not Siemens, Bayer, Mercedes Benz and other familiar names, but some unknown small and medium-sized enterprises called Britta, Hony, hillabrand and so on. They are highly focused on a narrow industry, but they are far ahead of any other enterprises producing similar products in the international market, such as Britta, which produces household water filters, accounting for 85% of the market share of similar products in the world; The cigarette machinery manufactured by Haney company has a share of 90% in the world market; Hillabrand, which specializes in shipping wine, has a global share of 60%. Most of them are not concerned by the media and the public, but are genuine champions, so Simon called them "invisible champions"

Germany has more than 1000 such invisible champion enterprises. Don't think their scale is shameful. For example, Tetra, which produces tropical fish feed, accounts for 60% of the global market. Although its products are small, its turnover reaches US $6billion, and it has wholly-owned subsidiaries in more than 100 countries around the world; Groz beckert, which specializes in the production of industrial sewing machine needles, also has an annual income of more than 700-800 million marks and rich and stable profits

of course, there are also precedents that have developed into world-renowned enterprises. For example, SAP company, founded by hope and four friends, betrayed IBM in 1972 and devoted themselves to developing ERP software for many years. Finally, it became the world's leading giant in this professional field and the world's third largest software enterprise. Its annual global sales reached US $9billion, and its brand value ranked 34th on the "global top 100 brand list" in 2004, five higher than Siemens

the reason why invisible champions are little known is that most of them are not good at or willing to spend a lot of money to hype themselves, and even deliberately avoid contact with the media, so as to avoid too much attention, which may increase competitors and imitators, but this may also cause the lack of support from the capital market to restrict the rapid growth and development of the company

after all, these German enterprises have gradually become the leaders of this industry after years or even generations of continuous focus. Today, this long-term and slow development strategy is no longer applicable. The pioneers have been rooted for a long time. Playing the old trick again can only become a laughing stock. In the new era, there must be a new way to play, that is, positioning

positioning is to avoid direct competition and enter the consumer's brain from the perspective of differentiation. At this time, there is no competitor in the market. You have to seize the precious opportunity to grow rapidly and secure this position before a strong imitator appears, otherwise you will "marry others". This requires enterprises to size up the situation, carry out appropriate public publicity at the right time, and attract the resources needed for development

in fact, since 1995, how has the Western liquid crystal rubber tensile testing machine, the "father of invisible champions", tested the rubber strength? After Meng published an article in the Harvard Business Review to let the world know these successful small and medium-sized enterprises for the first time, Germany also began to pay attention to mining invisible champion enterprises. For example, the Hessian state government has held an annual invisible champion evaluation since 1999 to select enterprises that maintain a world leading position in their own field but are not known to the public, so as to improve their visibility, help them gain the attention of the capital market, and help small and medium-sized enterprises grow into world-class large enterprises

therefore, the key to becoming a champion enterprise today is not to make a fortune invisibly and quietly, but to be professional, and further focus on a certain position, become a leader in the market segment, and quickly break through the defense line of established enterprises from local areas. The so-called "unstoppable", the driving force of this "trend" comes from the support of consumers, accurately speaking, the positioning in consumers' brains

on the other hand, positioning alone is not enough. The government and all sectors of society must provide more support for the financing services of small and medium-sized enterprises, so as to help promising small and medium-sized enterprises get rid of the shackles of capital bottlenecks and quickly pass the dangerous period of growth

at present, there are many blank positioning fields in the Chinese market that need to be filled and created. Large enterprises often worry about the impact on the existing product lines, or fail to see the market segments with insufficient overall scale, or because of slow decision-making and lack of innovation and flexible and rapid spirit of determination, so that small and medium-sized enterprises have enough space to show their strength. The key is that our entrepreneurs and marketers should master the positioning theory as soon as possible, Then we can make great progress and build strong brands in many market segments, making multinational companies defenseless and overwhelmed

however, the biggest test for us to truly subvert the pattern of multinational companies dominating the market is whether we can curb the impulse of diversification and maintain our focus for decades. Once many enterprises grow up or diversify in order to spread risks, their competitiveness will be weakened, and their fate will be even more worrying. In fact, the best way to spread risk is market diversification

for example, German Heine company produces "postfix" brand soapy water for children to play with soap bubbles. Such an inconspicuous product is exported to more than 50 countries around the world, with an annual income of $7million

by contrast, what Chinese enterprises particularly lack is a global vision

as Rhys pointed out: "In today's era, the only rule that governs people's behavior is the forest law: eat others or be eaten by others, and there is no choice. If you can't deliver your products and services to all corners of the earth, then these companies in remote corners will introduce their products and services into your country. They will make you suffer with their strong physique, global reputation and years of accumulated experience The family business of the camp was swept away. "

in fact, there are already some "invisible champions" in China, such as "lighter king", "button king", "nail clipper king", etc., but most of them are OEM in international trade. However, suppose that one day others' labor costs are lower than ours, do we still have orders? If others are more focused than us, where is our way

this is not a groundless worry, but a real problem. For example, the labor force in India is the cheapest in the world, and it also has high quality. India also clearly put forward the goal of building a world manufacturing center in 2004, implemented a series of preferential policies for foreign investment, and hoped to make a breakthrough in manufacturing after establishing a prominent reputation in the software industry. LG Electronics of South Korea has planned to invest US $150million in India by 2007, making India its second largest overseas production base after China. This shows that India's attraction as a manufacturing production base is gradually increasing

in addition, Vietnam and other countries also have cost advantages

obviously, we can't be satisfied with low-level foreign trade processing and export. We need to get rid of the routine of simply relying on low cost to win, and determine our unique survival value as soon as possible. We should not only strive for perfection and dedication in product quality, innovation and service, but also eliminate the awareness of home, and fight the storm in the international market with broad vision, broad mind and ambitious ambition, Deduce the charm of Chinese marketing and Chinese brands

how to go abroad also puts forward urgent issues for our education and training circles. The rejuvenation of the Chinese nation requires a large number of international talents, especially professional marketers who are proficient in foreign languages and familiar with international business

if one day, not only large enterprises, but also most small and medium-sized enterprises also have Chinese marketers in suits and fluent foreign languages who are busy shuttling around international airports, then China will become a brand power and regain the glory of Chinese civilization

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Simon summarized the eight characteristics of the "invisible champion"

1. Burning ambition. They all have very ambitious goals, that is, to become global leaders in their own fields, not to think about it, and tirelessly pursue this dream

2. High concentration. Define the market quite narrowly, and all strategies and tactics are carried out around it. Many enterprises want to diversify once they become a little bigger, but they will never

3. Grasp the customer relationship. Use global marketing to make up for the limited defects of customers, like to establish their own subsidiaries to explore the international market, and do not hand over customer relations to third parties

4. Be a partner of excellence. Very close to customers, especially top customers. If you want to become a leader in the global market, your customers must also be top-notch in the world

5. Innovation! Innovation! Innovation! Both products and production processes are highly innovative. Their innovation activities are globally oriented and continuous

6. Become a top-level arena. Create strategic competitive advantages in product quality and service. Always keep close contact with the strongest competitors. They are often in the same region or even in the same city. The competition in the same city is actually world-class competition. The strongest opponent can make you a world leader

7. Protect your uniqueness. Rarely outsource, do everything you can and keep your R & D activities in mind