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DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS220

competitors Competitive reaction is clearly one of the likeliest

blocks to implementation. IKEA’s experience demonstrated the full
gamut of competitive reaction, ranging from exclusion from trade fairs
to legal challenge, and organisation of a boycott among potential
suppliers.

competitive reaction is clearly one of the
likeliest blocks to implementation

We saw earlier how Internet Securities, Inc. identified competitive
reaction as a major implementation block, leading the company to
avoid head-on competition with the American players already present
in Poland and to fly in ‘under the radar’.

Hoover paid James Dyson the most sincere form of competitive flattery
by seeking to imitate his Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner.

As the concluding case study will demonstrate, Tony Tan Caktiong had
to overcome the psychological block of McDonald’s’ forthcoming entry
into the Philippines’ fast-food market when he pre-emptively launched
his Filipino version. Caktiong’s triumph was to be the only entrepreneur
who has ever managed to keep McDonald’s in the number-two slot.

inability to protect your idea Linked to competition is the

idea of protecting your idea. James Dyson beat off Hoover by taking the
company to court for patent infringement, while Andrew Palmer
patented his process for extending the shelf-life of his fresh soup.

But suppose you lack the funds to patent-protect your idea or suppose
the idea will not sustain protection, making you vulnerable to rapid
imitation by others? Clearly these were the type of issues identified by
the Roddicks when they sought rapid and national coverage through
franchising for the Body Shop concept, or by Internet Securities, Inc.
when it developed the range of sources ‘exclusive’ to it, or by Karan
Bilimoria, when he developed the brand values of Cobra beer rather
than protect the brewing formula.

techniques to identify blocks to implementation

A number of techniques exist to help you identify the blocks to
implementation which are specific to your particular idea. These