“You can’t compete if you’re inefficient and blind to the market”

1. Introduction: Strategy is not about what works, but about what is broken.

When most entre­pre­neurs think about strategy, they start with their strengths.

“What are we good at?”
“What do we like to do?”
“What’s working right now?”

That’s fine if you want to survive. But if you want grow, competeor dominatethis way of thinking is far too safe.

Because real strategy doesn’t start with your strengths.

It starts with what is broken.

Broken inside Your business – and broken outside on the market.

Over the years, I have worked with countless business owners who couldn’t under­stand why they were stuck. They had a good product, a good team and loyal customers. But growth had stalled. The profit was patchy. The stress was high.

Each time we encoun­tered the same two problems:

1. Hidden Internal ineffi­ciencies the business: slow systems, wasteful processes and under­per­forming offerings.
2. A complete one blind spot for ineffi­ciencies in the market; Gaps that their competitors left wide open.

One customer had great service, but the internal quoting process took three days. They lost jobs because customers got offers quicker elsewhere. Another operated in a market where no competitor offered flexible pricing or weekend delivery. Customers hated it – but no one solved it.

In both cases, the strategic oppor­tunity lay right there.
But they couldn’t see it because they were too focused on what they were seeing Thought They were good at it.

Here is the truth:
If you want to develop a real strategy, you need to under­stand two things:

• What lasts Your company back inter­nally
• What broke in? The market that others won’t fix it

When you balance those two, when you fix what’s slowing you down And Attacking where others are weak is when things start to click.

This blog is about doing just that.

I’ll show you:

• What business ineffi­ciencies actually look like (not just how they feel)
• This will help you identify ineffi­ciencies in your market that others ignore
• And how to combine the two to create a strategy that not only sounds good, but also works

Let’s get into it.

2. What are business inefficiencies?

Let’s start inside: Your company.

There are business ineffi­ciencies This costs you time, money, energy and oppor­tu­nitieseven if business is going well.

They are not always obvious. In fact, many hide behind sentences like:

• “It’s not perfect, but it works.”
• “We’ve always done it that way.”
• “We just have to put more pressure on.”
• “It’s quicker to do it manually.”

But here is the truth:

“If something in your business is slow, wasteful, unreliable, or unprof­itable, it is ineffi­cient.”

And ineffi­ciency connec­tions. It clogs your delivery. It weakens your pricing power. It burns out your team. It gives competitors the chance to catch up or overtake you.

Common Types of Business Ineffi­ciency.

Operational inefficiencies:

• Repet­itive manual tasks that could be automated
• Dupli­cation of work between depart­ments
• Outdated technology that slows things down

Example: A construction company still uses paper-based spread­sheets, resulting in delays, lost time and endless paperwork.

Financial inefficiencies:

• Providing services at a margin that is too low to scale
• No fees for extras or scope creep
• Losing money due to poor inventory control or excessive mainte­nance

Example: A marketing agency with fixed prices but wildly fluctu­ating client demands, leading to overcharging and under­payment.

Human ineffi­ciencies:

• Roles that are not clearly defined
• Decision bottle­necks (every­thing needs your approval)
• Team members do work that they are not the best at or for which they are not trained

Example: A business owner handles all customer support “because customers like talking to me” while ignoring sales and strategy.

Strategic inefficiencies:

• Hunt for low-value, resource-consuming customers
• Offering too many things without focus
• Stick with “old” offers that don’t fit your current focus

Example: A web designer is still offering template sites for £500 while trying to move to strategy-focused builds for £5,000.

Why it matters.

These ineffi­ciencies reduce your ability grow, competeAnd delivery. They prevent you from making the most of the market oppor­tu­nities that come your way because you are too busy fighting your own internal resis­tance.

That’s why strategy doesn’t start with your vision or goals. It starts with clearing the inner chaos that is holding you back.

Goal for this section:

By the time you complete your next 365/90 planning sprint, you should have a clear answer to this question:

“What internal ineffi­ciencies are preventing us from reaching the next level?”

3. What are market inefficiencies?

Now let’s turn outward, away from your business and toward yours Market.

Even if it’s business ineffi­ciencies that are holding you back…Market ineffi­ciencies are what hold your competitors and customers back.

These are the gaps, blind spots, bottle­necks and frustra­tions inherent in your industry or niche. These are the places where the market is below averagewhere things are:-

• overpriced,
• Overcom­pli­cated,
• Under­served, right
• Simply broken.

And these ineffi­ciencies? Here lies the oppor­tunity.

So what exactly is market inefficiency?

It is any place where:

• Customers don’t get what they want or need at the speed, price or quality they expect.
• The industry norm is slow, sloppy, or outdated, but everyone just accepts it.
• Competitors create friction rather than elimi­nating it.

Types of market inefficiencies.

Speed ​​differences:

• Competitors take too long to quote, deliver, or respond.
• The “normal turnaround” is slow, but no one questions it.

Example: A commercial cleaning company that promises a quote within 24 hours will win business from others within 3–5 days.

Price confusion or mismatch:

• Customers don’t under­stand what they’re paying for.
• High-end prices for low-end delivery or vice versa.
• The market forces customers to price levels that do not corre­spond to their actual needs.

Example: A software platform with inflated enter­prise pricing while small businesses are desperate for a simpler, cheaper option.

Overcom­pli­cated processes:

• Too many steps to purchase, sign up, or get started.
• Technical language, confusing packages, unclear promises.

Example: A design agency that offers “brand strategy workshops” but can’t explain what you’re actually getting, versus a competitor that says, “We build brands that customers trust.”

Underserved Niches:

• All target the same “middle of the market.”
• Certain types of customers are ignored – by default, not inten­tionally.

Example: A freelancer who targets trades­people instead of tech startups because everyone else is chasing trending indus­tries.

Weak messaging and generic positioning:

• The competitors all sound the same.
• Nobody says anything bold, clear or different.
• Customers can’t tell who to trust – so they default to price.

Example: A law firm that avoids jargon and clearly explains pricing will immedi­ately stand out from the crowd of vague competitors.

Why market inefficiencies matter.

This is where real strategy gets inter­esting. You don’t have to “disrupt an industry.” You just need to recognize where customers are failing and solve the problem better. Most companies spend so much time copying competitors that they never question the market itself.

You assume:

“If everyone does it that way, it must be right.”

But what if not?

What if the slow delivery time, confusing service, or inflated prices were your biggest strategic oppor­tunity?

The goal here:

By the end of this blog (or your next 90 day sprint) you should be able to answer the following:

“Where is the market currently letting customers down and how can we act differ­ently?”

Positioning is very important here. This is where the pricing takes a risk. And this is where your company starts to feel like the only real choice.

4. Why most entrepreneurs ignore both.

Here’s the irony: the two things that matter most when building a smart strategy, internal ineffi­ciencies and market ineffi­ciencies, are also the two things that most business owners never pay attention to. Why?

Because they’re too busy being busy.

You are caught up in everyday life. Firefighting. Delivery. Hunting. React. So instead of devel­oping a strategy, they build more activity. And instead of asking tough questions, they just copy what everyone else is doing and hope it works.

Why internal inefficiencies are ignored.

• You’re too close. When you’re deep in your own business, chaos looks like normal.
• You get used to being clunky. This CRM that slows everyone down? They’ve been using it for 5 years, it just is what it is.
• They solve symptoms, not causes. Decline in sales? You try a new adver­tising campaign without fixing your broken onboarding that is turning customers away.

“You can’t fix ineffi­ciency if you can’t even see it.”

Why market ineffi­ciencies are overlooked.

• They assume the market is “right.” If every partic­ipant does something, it must be the standard… right?
• You have been condi­tioned to copy. Most business owners don’t study their customers; They study competitors.
• You don’t talk to real customers often enough. So they miss out on what frustrates them or what makes them content.

You don’t win by being better at something. You win by solving what no one else solves.

The strategic trap most companies fall into:

They were building a “good” business in a “good” market. Inter­nally ineffi­cient. Exter­nally incon­spicuous. They’re not broken, but they’re not winning either. And that is the most dangerous place to be, busy but stuck. No margin. No momentum. No real strategy. Just… grind.

The solution?

You have to look inwards and outwardsHonest.

“Where are we holding back?”
“Where is the market failing our ideal customer?”
“So how do we close this gap better than anyone else?”

That is the basis of the strategy. No mission state­ments. No values ​​walls. No vision boards. Fix what’s broken. Attack what others ignore. How to build a business that outper­forms, outlasts, and maneuvers.

5. Where real strategy lives: Repair on the inside, exploit on the outside.

Here is the heart of it:

“Strategy is not just about what you do, but also where and how you play.”

And the smartest game is this:

Fix what’s broken in your business so you can take advantage of what’s broken in the market.

This is where leverage comes to life.

• Not in “being better at every­thing.”
• Not when copying best practices.
• Not while reading another book about customer journeys.

True leverage exists when:

• Your internal processes are lean, clear and focused
• You can act faster, achieve better prices or deliver more clearly than your competitors
• And you use this advantage to attack the market where others are weak

Fix what’s broken inside.

Internal ineffi­ciencies not only cost you profits, but also oppor­tu­nities.

• If your quoting process is slow, you won’t be able to respond faster than your competitors.
• If your onboarding is chaotic, you won’t be able to scale a new offer.
• If your team is overloaded with low-margin work, you’ll never pivot when an oppor­tunity presents itself.

When you clear your internal chaos, you get:

• Bandwidth
• Headroom
• focus
• flexi­bility

It creates capacitythe strategic fuel most companies operate without.

Use what is broken outside.

Once your house is in order, you can look outside and ask:

• “Where is the market that is failing its customers?”
• “What frustrates you?”
• “Where are our competitors lazy, bloated or slow?”

You don’t have to invent anything revolu­tionary. You just have to do what others don’t want to fix.

That could mean:

• Be the fastest to make an offer in a slow-moving industry
• We offer fixed prices in a market full of confusion
• Commu­nicate in plain English when everyone else is using jargon
• Serve a niche that everyone else overlooks

This creates a positioning that sticks. No gimmicks: gaps. You show up where others don’t. And because you’ve elimi­nated your internal ineffi­ciencies, this is possible.

Strategy = internal capability + external opportunity.

This is what most “strategic planning” frame­works miss.

• They separate the inside from the outside.
• You get lost in the analysis.
• They talk about “alignment” without telling you what to align.

So let’s simplify it.

Real strategy =

• Fix what is dragging you down inside
• Align this capacity with the vulner­a­bil­ities in the market
• Create an offer, process or position that seems inevitable to your ideal customer

Then things start moving.

6. Practical Framework: How to map the two sides

You don’t need a 50-page strategic plan. You need a simple map that will help you do three things:

1. See what is broken in your company
2. Recognize what’s broken out there in your market
3. Balance the two to create something that wins

Here’s how.

STEP 1: Conduct a business inefficiency audit.

Eliminate resis­tance in your company

Questions:

• Where are we slowly?
• Where are we losing money?
• What do we continue to do manually that we could automate?
• What customer complaints or frustra­tions within the team keep cropping up?
• Where do we deliver work? feels more painful than it should?

Use this to detect:

• Broken processes
• bottle­necks
• Low margin offers
• Bad systems
• Poor performing roles
• Decision delays

Your Goal: List the top three to five ineffi­ciencies that are costing you the most time, money, or energy.

STEP 2: Identify market inefficiencies.

Find out where your competitors are failing their customers. Ask:

• What frustrates customers in this industry?
• Where are competitors slow, vague, overpriced or too compli­cated?
• What’s missing from the typical customer experience?
• Are there under­served customer segments that no one is targeting?
• What language, pricing, delivery or packaging will everyone simply accept as “standard”?

Use this to detect:

• Gaps in service delivery
• Confusion in messaging or pricing
• Ways to be faster, clearer and more helpful
• Segments that the market ignores

Your Goal: List the three to five biggest ineffi­ciencies in the market that your ideal customers struggle with.

STEP 3: Find the overlap and turn it into a strategy.

Connect what you are improving inter­nally with what customers urgently want exter­nally. This is where real strategic leverage arises.

Questions:

• What internal solution would there be? unlock our ability to solve this market problem?
• If we improved X inter­nally, how could we better attack Y in the market?
• What can we do consis­tently that the compe­tition can’t keep up with?

Examples:

• By fixing your quoting system, you can provide quotes in 30 minutes instead of 3 days (market speed difference).
• By optimizing your onboarding, you can profitably serve small customers while everyone else ignores them
• Improving team clarity frees up bandwidth to introduce a bold new offering where the market has become stale

Your goal: Draw a direct connection between what you’re fixing inter­nally and the oppor­tunity it creates exter­nally.