The Clifton Review 

The Clifton Review is a tri-weekly column that examines the question of the Clifton project along with the evolution of the war between two billionaires. We covered the start of this war with articles describing the battle over easement rights, the mysterious burning of a home, the blocks to rebuilding, and countless questionable court filings.

While the 2018 series salutes fashion mogul Peter Nygård’s Golden Jubilee detailing his rags to riches story, his incredible business success over these past fifty years and an inside look at how he did it, The Clifton Review will also continue to address current affairs as they relate to the good of The Bahamas.

Preparing To Fight The Competition

By P.J. Malone

Communicating your strategy to staff is one thing; identifying it is another.

Before you can set the right foundation by sharing business goal and strategy with employee partners, you have to get your goal and business strategies right.

Your SWOT analysis (assessing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), is a good barometer for deciding what to address or what direction you should head in.

Reviewing the example from fashion mogul Peter Nygard, remember one threat he faced was losing business or being destroyed by the 2008 recession that caused the downfall of many other business. We don’t know the exact wording of the goal he set, but we do know that the sentiment was to not join the others who were being impacted by the 2008 recession.

One thing we can say is that knowing Peter Nygard, you can bet your bottom dollar it was a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound—as some describe it) one. Nygard is known to be extremely detailed oriented and a perfectionist. So every step would have been carefully planned in working toward his goal.

We can say that a part of his goal involved decreasing cost and or increasing the bottom line. We can say this because while lots of people were suffering during the 2008 recession, Nygard shared that he experienced business growth to the tune of 25%.

A common threat to many businesses is new competition. If this is a threat you want to address, you have to set a specific goal and a ‘SMART’ goal and come up with a strategy for achieving it.

Forbes business publication features a specific approach to handling competition in an article that might prove helpful. To get you thinking about how best to deal with the competition, here are some tips from the article.

Entitled, “5 Proven Tips To Beat The Competition”, writer Adam Cronenberg shares the following:

Stay One Step Ahead Of The Enemy

Have a holistic understanding of your business. Investigate the environment where you are working, including the players. Understand their strengths and weaknesses….

Prepare A Strategic Battle Plan

Your knowledge of the business terrain and the competition is important in determining how to capture your market. Use this business intelligence to formulate a winning battle plan. Map out the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses to take them down….

Seize All Opportunities

If you prepare a well-thought-out battle plan, you will be able to forecast future events. Seize on all possible opportunities that will open up for you. If there are none, then create these opportunities yourself….

Be Smart In Fighting For Your Product Or Service

You must believe in your own product or service. This will serve as your motivation in fighting for it….

Know How To Choose Your Battles

You do not have to fight every battle that comes your way. By taking stock of your business’ strengths and weaknesses and arming yourself with business intelligence, you will be able to choose your battles….

(Forbes.com: April 2018)

There is one example that comes to mind with respect to ‘fighting for your product’. If you recall, when fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s product was at risk at being squeezed out from department stores who wanted to follow the latest trend, he didn’t just fold. He knew his customers loved his product. So, he found a way to continue offering it to his customers and it yielded great financial results for his company.

So how can business people repeat Nygard’s success? Stay tuned.