The Road Ahead [Archives:2002/25/Business & Economy]

In Introduction, this column includes economic, business-related and general interest articles which we think would be useful for the reader in his/her field aiming to the overall long-term betterment of the businesses of our country.
If you have any contributions please do not hesitate and send to Mr. Mohammed Khader, YemenTimes.
Competing with Giants
By Raidan A. Al-Saqqaf
In Yemen, as in many other third world countries, multinational organizations tend to find and explore new markets for expansion after facing a tough competition in their home markets. But while entering the new market there would be already a number of similar smaller in scale local organizations in existence. Now these local folks have to face a tough competition with this multinational new comer who has superior technology and new strategies along with his new products in order to attract customers, but the question stands: do they succeed?
Success is not just a matter of selling products or making profits, it rather includes the power to survive tough competition. This can be achieved through finding the weak points which the competitor has and using them to strengthen our market standing and keep the market share, but this only comes after proper analyzing and research of the market and the competitor.
In India, for example, When Honda first entered the Indian motorcycle and scooter market, bajaj automobile was an existing motorcycle manufacturer which lacked the superior technological advancements Honda had, However, Honda hardly pulled 7% of bajajs market share, they did not understand that all what the Indian consumer wanted was a motorcycle that is cheap, easy and economic to repair and maintain, and that was exactly what bajaj produced.
Another story here in Yemen was about a soap and detergent manufacturer, when a giant multinational entered our market, they kept their market share in spite of that, here is what they did: they analyzed the Yemeni consumer market, they found out that more than 70% of the population was in rural areas, and they wanted a relatively cheap products, so the local manufacturer focused on strengthening its well-established distribution network in rural areas because it was the weak point of the new comer, and their key to surviving.
End note: There are weak points for every giant, use them for your own good then you can survive.

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