The key success factors are the elements that allow the entrepreneur to achieve the objectives that have been set and distinguish the company from the competition, making it unique.
Commonly in business plan formats the expression "key success factors" appears as a determinant of how good or bad a business can be in the long term and is one of the sections of this document where investors place the most emphasis, since through it they can assess the real competencies of the business.
Beyond investors and business plans, it is important that the entrepreneur knows with certainty what these factors are that make his project unique because if he does not identify them, he cannot know how he will compete in the market, nor because clients will prefer his products or services..
To identify the key factors of success, you must look into the business, know what are the processes or characteristics that distinguish your product or service and what are the ones that you must fully master to create competitive advantage. This identification is usually easy in most cases where the product or service is innovative, but it is not so easy when entering a highly competitive market in which the similarity of processes, products and services is high.
If the enterprise is a X product marketer, the key to business success could be found in its location within the distribution chain, if it is a restaurant, the key could be in the geographical location, if it is a travel agency, the key it could be in the capacity to offer economic plans…. Each initiative has different key points that will lead to economic and commercial success.
Advantage. The key success factors must be translated into fundamental competitive advantages that allow the project to achieve the proposed objectives.
A tool that facilitates the process of looking inside the company or project is the DOFA, SWOT or SWOT matrix, which consists of an internal and external analysis of the organization or initiative and that allows establishing, in the internal environment, its Strengths and Weaknesses and the Opportunities and Threats of the environment in which it operates or will operate.
To do this, you have to focus on the determining aspects of the business, which is why when taking this internal look, you must keep in mind the external sphere, which is nothing other than the competition. The DOFA analysis objectively compares the company with the competitors with which the market patterns and the competencies that identify the firm are established, since, if it is known what others do and how they do it, it will be possible to establish what it is what our own initiative does differently and how it does it.
Another tool that serves to determine these key factors is the analysis of the five forces, the incorporation of new competitors, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of customers and suppliers and, finally, the rivalry between existing competitors; With it you can see beyond the same company and it will detect which are the critical elements to compete in the market.
