#LeanStrategy : find opportunities with Jobs-to-be-done, create a Brand and execute with our Map!

Este es un primer artículo en inglés que escribimos con mi esposa Ángela (experta en branding y co-fundadora de The Real Value) en el marco de conversaciones y aportes al libro sobre #JTBD de nuestro amigo Alan Klement. Disculpas por posibles errores idiomáticos!

#LeanStrategy: Find valuable opportunities using JTBD, create a Brand value proposition and execute a strategy plan in a flexible way.

Strategy sounds like an outdated word for many entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. It’s also often mistaken as for a “business model” — which is a part of the strategy, but not the strategy itself.

The reality is this: Strategy should not be a long and tiring process. It should be plan that is strong, lean and clear. This helps entrepreneurs improve their decision making, lead their business, and make it more competitive. A good strategy must be accompanied with the proactive attitude and work of finding newer, profitable and more attractive opportunities.

Ted Ladd in a Harvard Business Review article (2016) mentioned the limits of leanstartups and the importance of having a strong strategy

And of course Jeff Bezos has always been stubborn about Amazon strategy and vision.

LeanStartup is a way to apply scientific method to your startup, but many entrepreneurs and accelerators misunderstood the meaning of “fail fast, fail often” and conducted companies to make tests that were really unnecessary because they were not pursuing a really great Opportunity (they never analyzed before that, they just followed an idea)

http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2015/07/18/larry-smith-fail-fast-fail-often-and-die/

#JTBD helps us analyze an opportunity before we pursue our idea, that´s why #JTBD is a great framework!

It helps startups and big companies during the Opportunity Discovery phase, giving you a way to segment and realize what problems should be solved, and how you might solve them a better way.

#LeanStrategy mixes #JTBD with Brand Value Proposition creation stage, strategic maps (Kaplan &Norton) and business model canvas (Osterwalder). This help you to:

1) Find Opportunities: Know how to discover customers’ motivations (JTBD), and how you might solve them in a better way. This helps you measure these opportunities and a customers’ willingness to switch to your solution.

2) Create a Brand Value Proposition: This gives Identity and Purpose to what we offer.

3) Structure a business model that supports the delivery of a value proposition, but in a way that keeps goals flexible. This helps you measure progress, keep track of resources, and analyze permanently the environment that could affect us.

For example, the difference between competitive and non-competitive challenges. In Colombia, the government is killing Uber-not another transportation service.

The result is #LeanStrategy. A tool that helps you map your strategy after finding “the greatOpportunity”!

Don´t quit if you really know you are pursuing a great Opportunity. Starting with a JTBD helps you make better tests based upon your Value Proposition. This helps you craft your business model in a safe and confident way.

Thank you again Alan Klement for your support and great suggestions!

Espero les resulte muy útil y no duden en comentar o escribirme antes cualquier duda o consulta.

Saludos y feliz semana,

Esteban M.

Y recuerden que pueden descargar todos los frameworks de la metodología #LeanStrategy en www.leanstrategy.co