YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ​GROWTH STRATEGY IN 2024-2025

2X Your Cashflow & ​3X Your Profit ​Without Any ​Additional Capital ​Investment All

Self-Funded By

YOUR Business

Table of ​Contents

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WHO AM I?

Hassan Adnan

CEO Unfair Advantage Lab

In 2015, I was with Coca-Cola. ​Those four years were ​incredible, diving deep into ​how technology creates ​business value.

Despite the security, I craved impact. I devoured strategy books, ​itching to apply what I learned. But my safe job felt limiting, and ​friends and family couldn't understand why I'd consider leaving. ​The real push came with my daughter. At two years old, her future ​was my priority, so I took a leap of faith into consulting.

This new path was exhilarating. Every client brought unique ​challenges. Strategy, execution, learning - I lived through this ​cycle, gaining speed and insight.

I've journeyed 30,000 miles, soaked up insights from over 200 ​strategy books, and worked with 30+ clients across 7 industries, ​from startups to giants with revenues of $1b, from 1 founder to 20 ​shareholders. I've led 3 turnarounds and over 20 strategy sessions.

These experiences culminated in the Unfair Advantage System, a ​consulting product I'm proud of. I share my journey and insights at ​strategy-patterns.com, always learning and curious.

I am a strategist, driven by a quest for impact and a better future.

WHAT PEOPLE ​ARE SAYING ​ABOUT ME?

“My experience was truly ​exceptional. I feel I received ​a hundred-dollar answer ​for my strategy questions."

- IFFAT FARRUQI

(CEO MANHAL EDUCTION)

"He excels in implementing ​innovative strategies and ​guiding our company towards ​growth. Mr. Hassan's data-​driven approach and expertise ​in the OKR methodology have ​been key drivers in achieving ​our goals."

- USSAMA SHAHID

(CEO WAJDA GROUP)

ALSO BY

HASSAN ADNAN

A very good summary of the ​trends and how they will ​shape the dynamics of the ​business landscape

- Dr Sohail Naqi,

Ex Vice Chancellor of LUMS

A must read for every CEO in ​Pakistan

- Monis Rehman,

CEO Zameen.com

BUSINESS ​LANDSCAPE TODAY

GENERATIVE AI

Generative AI will impact many industries and a broad-sets of use cases. ​Affecting the productivity formula prevalent in the industry. This has ​triggered a race for Gen AI adoption across so many sector to secure a ​competitive edge.

According to a renowned Economist Carlota Perez this initiates the 5th ​technological revolution which is set to bring significant changes to all ​industries.

BUSINESS ​LANDSCAPE TODAY

STRATEGIC ​ISSUES

TRENDS

ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE

At an economic level these trends are triggering changes that are also ​widely shaping up the business dynamics, and are more so revealed in ​terms of higher cost of doing business and lower revenues altogether.

IMPACT ON ​BUSINESS

HEALTH EVALUATOR

Above is a rule of thumb financial health evaluator that we use with ​clients to initially pin-point financial metric that is taking a toll to isolate ​the problem.

SHORTAGE OF FREE CASHFLOW

But as you would have recognized that any change in ​the variable affects the cash generated by the ​business altogether. And that is a major problem ​today. I see so many business may be big on revenue ​but are hardly making any free-cashflow, that they ​may invest in the future of the business.

WHY ARE MOST ​BUSINESSES STUCK?

According to a Global Mckinsey Survey 77% of the businesses are stuck in ​the middle of the hockey curve that represents profit distribution. They ​are hardly making any profit. While most industry profits are baked by the ​8% of the businesses.

WHY ARE THEY STUCK?

"Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business ​enterprise has two – and only two – basic functions: marketing and ​innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are ​costs." - Peter Drucker

They are stuck because they have ignored this real function of the ​business, that was to invest in the marketing & innovation because only ​the only possible way to build an unfair advantage in your industry and ​marketplace is to develop and invest in the capabilities of marketing and ​innovation.

Below statistics can be seen as a consequence of and also the reason of ​this wrong mindset where businesses owners do not prioritize investment ​in these capabilities an instead deem them as cost.

A report from Small Business Trends indicates; that 47% of small ​businesses spend less than $10,000 annually on digital marketing, which ​can limit their reach and effectiveness in a competitive digital landscape.

According to a study by the National Small Business Association; 47% of ​small businesses consider lack of available capital to be a significant barrier ​to innovation. This limitation affects their ability to invest in new technologies ​and research and development.

WHY ARE MOST ​BUSINESSES STUCK?

ON THE CONTRARY

Measure your company by free-cashflow - Jeff Besoz

Amazon from it’s most earliest days focused on building reserves of ​free-cashflow that was then invested in innovation and marketing. ​The quote you see above is from the 2004 shareholder letter from ​Amazon to his shareholders, defining his relentless focus and ​commitment to do so, but also explaining to them his underlying ​philosophy.

SIMILARLY, THE STORY OF HIDDEN CHAMPION

According to the research done by Professor Hermon Simon on ​Hidden, these are world-wide companies of small and middle scale ​but operating at a global scale and hyper focused on growth and ​market leadership.

Hermon explains that the strength of these companies is defined by ​their relentless focus on innovation and global marketing, spending ​upwards 10% of their annual revenue of these capabilities.

HOW TO GET ​UNSTUCK?

GROWTH STRATEGY THAT GETS YOU UNSTUCK

Most business are stuck in their marketplace because of having no ​advantage on factors that determine their financial health specifically ​profitability.

You need a growth strategy that helps you gain an unfair advantage in ​any one or combination of these areas. The gold standard of a good ​strategy is that it unlocks the hidden and latent potential within the firm, ​exploit the existing resources and re-arranges them to either build of ​capability, develop an outclass product, scale operation, build a strong ​brand or dominate a niche market.

MOST BUSINESSES DON’T HAVE A STRATEGY

It is very common to misunderstand a plan as a strategy, because that is ​delivered with relative ease. However, a plan is not a strategy. A plan is ​just an extrapolation of the historic fact with a future focus. On the other ​hand a strategy operates within the constraints of the business to unlock ​growth by solving hard challenges.

4 PILLARS OF UNFAIR ​ADVANTAGE ​FRAMEWORK

RESEARCH BACKED GROWTH FRAMEWORK

Unfair Advantage Framework is researched backed, focusing on the area ​of marketing, innovation, cashflow management and strategy that will ​help you get unstuck.

These 3 areas collectively help you build a cashflow-growth engine. Once ​you unlock the processes and capabilities behind getting free-cashflow, ​attractive marketing and unparalled innovation. Your business will ​transform forever.

4 PILLARS OF UNFAIR ​ADVANTAGE ​FRAMEWORK

AFTER SPENDING 10,000 CONSULTING HOURS

This framework is a result of spending 10,000 consulting hours, ​journeying 30,000 miles, soaked up insights from over 200 strategy ​books, 1000+ case-studies and articles and working with 30+ clients ​across 7 different industries, from startups to giants with revenues of $1b, ​from 1 founder to 20 shareholders.

Getting the fluff around marketing, strategy and innovation and just ​focusing on the most result-oriented and practical approaches to getting ​the right needling moving insights, deep consumer behavior ​understanding, systemic business driver understanding and critical path ​strategy approach that focuses on identifying the just the right things to ​do and also ignore to build an unfair-advantage for your business.

STRATEGIC SHIFT#1: ​HOW TO BE IN A ​POSITION TO CREATE ​VALUE?

all profits are not distributed equally

Accounting profit is a deceptive metric. It is so because it does not reveal ​where the profits are being made instead it cares only about the ​aggregate affects, which has limited strategic usefulness.

What you need instead is a lens that dissects through various dimensions ​of the business and pin-points which parts of the profits are driving the ​business forward. Often what you find as a result a surprising distribution ​of profit which are displayed above, that clearly follows the Pareto’s Law, ​we see e.g 9% of the customers supporting 47% of the company and ​banking 142% of all the profits.

STRATEGIC SHIFT#1: ​HOW TO BE IN A ​POSITION TO CREATE ​VALUE?

• The business had been in loss consistently for the past 5 years.
• The telecom industry is stifled with price wars an pressure by the ​customer to keep reducing them.
• Payments are delayed over 180 days cycles and often subject to ​performance/quality score release.
  

• We analyzed the 5 portfolio branches of the company found 2 to ​be profit drainers and so we decided on a min. operating criteria ​for a portfolio branch and investment in services.
• Surprisingly, their non-core service was more profitable and so we ​create a centralized sales strategy to scale that across the other 4 ​regions
• We analyzed value proposition for bidding strategy and found it ​to be same as others and developed a value proposition of a ​solution oriented suggestive approach
  

• Wajda became profitable in the first year after 5 years.
• The company was re-energized and aligned around profitability.
• There were clear decision making criteria for project and branch ​investment and formulated budget governance systems.
• They non-core business got scaled across GCC with amazing ​results and complemented growth.
• And the core business inducted new customers because of the ​new approach to end the price-war
  

STRATEGIC SHIFT#1: ​HOW TO BE IN A ​POSITION TO CREATE ​VALUE?

Analyze key elements driving success, uncovering the fundamental ​aspects that make your business distinct and provide value to customers.

Interpret financial statements and indicators, pinpointing areas of strength ​and detecting opportunities for improvement.

Evaluate market position and analyze KPIs, external factors, and industry ​benchmarks to identify strategic intervention opportunities.

Strengthen financial position through cost control measures, operational ​efficiency, and refined pricing strategies, driving strategic growth initiatives.

STRATEGIC SHIFT#2: ​WHAT DO THE ​CUSTOMER VALUE?

all CUSTOMER are not CREATED SAME

The second strategic shift refers to customers, where in most businesses ​have adopted the lens of sameness. And have no take on the definition of ​ideal customer profile (ICP). The definition of the ideal customer can be ​charted out based on the behaviors over time and value (Customer Life ​Time Value) associated to them.

ICP helps you develop the clear agenda for market growth, since you are ​looking to and willing to attract a certain segment to your business, and ​this gives you a unfair-advantage. Over the period this locks in the ​customer and help you develop an associated value-proposition.

STRATEGIC SHIFT#2: ​WHAT DO THE ​CUSTOMER VALUE?

• The business had existed for a more than 20 years the revenues ​very high but the business consistently produced less profit
• They had been in vertically and horizontally integrated but ​without any synergy
  
• The company wanted to grow profitably
  

• We conducted a product level analysis and found out that most ​profits were drained by 80% of the complementing products ​because they are often sold in loss. Only 5 products were highly ​profitable.
  
• Further more based on customer type we understood that there ​were different customer type customer and their consumption ​requirements were very different, and so formulated ​individualized sales strategy.
  
• Lastly they had indirect customers from other regions which was ​untapped, so we built up a digital platform to sell them.
  

• The company scaled from across GCC which they struggled to ​in partnership with their middle man to penetrate effectively
• They tapped high margin export market for their mangoes and ​bananas after improving quality standards
  
• The company became highly profitable in 18 months.
  

STRATEGIC SHIFT#2: ​WHAT DO THE ​CUSTOMER VALUE?

Identify the main demographic groups your business serves to better ​target your marketing efforts and tailor your offerings.

Analyze emerging trends, industry shifts, and external factors to ​anticipate customer expectations and needs, ensuring long-term value ​creation.

Craft a compelling and memorable statement that conveys the essence ​of your brand, resonates with your core customers, and highlights your ​unique selling points.

Identify the best channel development opportunities, optimize your ​marketing funnel process, and outline steps for implementation.

STRATEGIC SHIFT#3: ​how to create the ​value?

ALL INNOVATION IS NOT WORTH THE SAME

The third shift pertains to innovation and how each innovation opportunity ​charts out differently in terms of technical uncertainty (y-axis) and market ​uncertainty (x-axis). Each innovation opportunity have a unique role in the ​entire opportunity portfolio.

Which is right depends upon a deep understanding of the current relative ​position, market trends and what can deliver an unfair-advantage at the ​end.

We see so often that companies blindly pursue innovation opportunity ​without fully grasping the associated uncertainties, the economic value it ​can deliver and the risk associated with it. This mindset becomes an issue ​when failure occurs and innovation altogether is takes a halt.

STRATEGIC SHIFT#3: ​how to create the ​value?

• The business faced significant debt and declining revenues due ​to strategic misalignment in corporate offerings and outdated ​product cycles.
• Brand identity erosion and low employee morale were identified ​as critical issues, affecting customer trust and internal motivation.
• The lack of systematic marketing and accounting processes ​highlighted structural inefficiencies, coupled with aging product ​offerings.
  

• Engaged with customer feedback to refresh training offerings and ​introduce consulting products that address emerging needs ​developing a brand around that.
• Compiled a mix of new and refreshed product offerings, including ​scalable online and retreat-style training to match market ​demands
• Introduced performance-based incentives and development ​opportunities, fostering a motivated workforce committed to ​achieving company objectives.
  

• Revenue Growth: Stabilized and grew revenue, with new ​products boosting cash flow.
• Improved Brand Position: Rebuilt brand identity, regaining ​customer trust and competitive edge.
  
• Enhanced Employee Engagement: Increased motivation and ​productivity through fair pay and development initiatives.
  

STRATEGIC SHIFT#3: ​how to create the ​value?

Analyze the fundamental structure of your business to understand how it ​delivers value to your customers and sustains profitability.

Dive into innovative use-cases, tap into customer needs using the JTBD ​approach, and define actionable steps to deliver exceptional value.

Assemble a diverse array of strategic opportunities, assess their potential ​impact, and devise a decision-making framework to select the best ​options.

Implement targeted strategies and initiatives aimed at expanding market ​reach, enhancing customer satisfaction, and ensuring sustainable, value-​driven business growth.

UNFAIR ADVANTAGE ​FRAMEWORK

Transform Your Company Into A Profitable ​and Cash-Rich Growth Engine Creating ​Unparalleled Market Value and Customer ​Demand

Get Started

Reach out to us if you feel this made sense and that we can help ​you deliver an unfair-advantage by transforming your company ​into a cash-rich growth engine.

THANK YOU FOR ​YOUR TIME