Definitive Business Plan, Second Edition, The

Core competencies

You should by now have identified your core competencies – those areas where your business has specific expertise. As already indicated, these competencies reflect the aggregate of the experiences gained and the skills developed when handling specific challenges and opportunities. They may also be derived from investment in particular resources, including facilities, machinery and equipment. I prefer to define them loosely. An alternative approach is to list competencies and assets separately.

This is a good point at which to indicate the unique factors relating to your products and services. Examples include the following.

• If you manufacture, explain your competitive advantage. We have one of the two looms in the world capable ...