The other day, I held a seminar for a network of small businesses to help them define their strategies for market growth. Even though the businesses were very different, this approach was not only relevant to most of them, it also inspired them to re-write their marketing strategies.

What does the product table do?

I got each owner or director of a small business to walk through five steps in creating their product table:

• 1. Draw four boxes in a x 2 table.
• 2. At the bottom, label the columns 'low' and 'high' and write 'market share' to show the amount you sell.
• 3. At the left side, abel the rows 'low' and 'high' and write 'growth potential' to show the scope for growth.
• 4. Mark the low/low box 'X Exit', low share/ high growth box '? Problem child', low growth/high share box '