Business Survival Tips in a Competitive Singapore

(My article from www.loyalreliance.com)

There are many perks of doing business in a well developed country such as Singapore. Low corruption rate, clarity in rules and regulation, and an open market policy that attracts many foreign companies to open their subsidiaries here.

Sadly though, open market also invites a lot of issue for existing businesses. Significantly high number of competitors often pushes a lot of companies into price war, which in long run only makes it harder for everyone to survive.  The “pie” that is not that big in the first place has to be shared by thousands of other companies operating in a similar manner. 

As a consultancy firm which focuses in growing businesses in Singapore, we have seen many sad cases where companies that were dominating the market have been reduced to such pitiful state where they are struggling just to cover their daily expenses.

By observing numerous positive and negative sample sizes, we can come up with a few points on how companies can continue to survive is such a competitive market.

1.       Be flexible. In a market that is constantly changing, complex and rigid businesses model only reduces a company’s reaction time towards any changes in the environment. Set a general direction for the company and react according to how the market changes. Do not set a “too specific” mission for your business as it will only prevent you to look at the changes in the surroundings. When the competition start coming in, remember to constantly steer your business to find more room to move to.

2.       Differentiate. When the competition is becoming too unbearable, sometimes the easiest way is to move away from the flock. Differentiation has been a key topic in business schools in the past decade. Reason is very simple, good profit margin and more stability in your revenue stream. Differentiation can be done in a many ways, either by going for a niche product, differentiate in your quality of services, offer a different focus in your value proposition, or simply targeting a completely different market. Differentiation gives you access to different pie or even create a new pie altogether.

3.       Don’t get complacent. Despite all your effort to fend of competitors and move to better place, when you are doing well, competitors will still come sooner or later. Keep your senses sharp and carefully observe any new players entering your playing field. Remember, the only constant in life is “change”.

“You can't expect to meet the challenges of TODAY with YESTERDAY's tools and expect to be in business TOMORROW.”- Anonymous