Bowling alley
October 31, 2011
Those of you who have worked with me know that I’m a fan of the “Bowling Alley” strategy for growth.
Put simply, a business should focus on dominating its first market segment with its first product. Only after it is the “go to” organization for its product in its market segment should it look to grow a new product line or with the existing product line into a new market.
I adopted it from Geoffrey Moore’s book “Inside the Tornado“.
Brian Scudamore is one of BC’s leading entrepreneurs. He is the founder of 1-800-Got-Junk and has built that into a $100mm plus franchising business. His company faces lots of mom-and-pop competitors, but “Got-Junk” is by far the most dominant player.
He is now taking the expertise, relationships, systems and know-how that has turned Got-Junk into an international success story and applying them to a new market segment. 1-800-Wow-1-day promises to paint your house in one day.
Here’s an article taken from today’s National Post on 1-800-Wow-1-day: http://business.financialpost.com/2011/10/31/primed-for-growth/. I’m going to follow it with interest to see the Bowling Alley Strategy work its wonders!
November 7, 2011 at 13:34
Interesting diagram. I like that you referenced Geoffrey Moore’s book, Inside the Tornado. Usually people always mention his first book Crossing the Chasm and now his current book Escape Velocity http://www.escapevelocitybymoore.com. Never thought about a bowling alley strategy, but I like it.