Paul Herdsman explains why entrepreneurs need a strategy

As an entrepreneur, Paul Herdsman has faced the challenges start-ups and great mind face when coming up with future's success ideas. When the ideas have developed and need to be brought to the market, the entrepreneur has to decide what path would bring him or her better returns. 

What strategic  decisions need to be made

When bringing new ventures into the market, Paul Herdsman discovered two major paths that he could take. First, he had to define his attitude towards the incumbent ventures. He could collaborate with them or compete against them. The second decision was his attitude towards the innovation. He could put a tight control on what he was creating or collaborate with others. These two main strategic design affects the steps into the future whether the technologies adopted, competition, or the target customers for the products.

Here is a deeper look at the decisions

1. Collaborate or compete

If you decide to collaborate, you tap into the available resources on the hands of the existing players as well as their markets. Unfortunately, it may take longer to start off due to bureaucracy in decision-making. Moreover, the larger player would have more bargaining power in the deal. 
 If you decide to compete, you have time to build your value chain systems and work with forgotten market sectors. However, the incumbent may have more resources and bring you down.

2. Maintaining tight control or working with others

Paul Herdsman found that maintaining tight control over the product development allows the start-up to develop a superior product that the competition may not imitate fast. However, it is very expensive to maintain control.

If you decide to concentrate on product development through collaboration, you are likely to speed up commercialization and get the market. However, the competition may be watching and match your value. Fortunately, most start-ups on this path can respond to competition and move on.
Choosing the above strategies takes consideration of different factors with value creation and capture taking the center-stage. Various other options may then be built into either path.