Article written by Luís Felício - Executive Director of Galeazzi & Associados

I see that many companies, especially in retail, suffer from a kind of myopia. They lack focus, and this is crucial for success in business. On the other hand, excessive focus can compromise the ability to adapt to problems - something that is not lacking in today's business environment. What is the ideal balance between focus and flexibility? You may find the answer on the topics I address in the following article.

The main reasons why companies need to have a clear focus and pursue this goal are:

1- The market associates a particular product or service with that company. This greatly facilitates the work of marketing and communicating with the market. Just remember the case of a football player who thanked Antártica for the Brahmas he received.

2- Having a clear focus allows the company to optimize resources, time, and energy to achieve its goals. This avoids the dispersion of efforts in less relevant areas.

3- By specializing in a specific niche or product/service, companies can become experts in that field, making them more competitive compared to others that are more generalist. Remember Mappin, Mesbla, and many others.

4- A clear focus allows companies to better understand the needs and desires of their customers in a specific niche, facilitating the development of more suitable solutions.

5- Another point, which is ultimately also a focus issue, is when the company is positioned in a certain social class and shareholders/managers want to open stores in locations that do not resonate with this group. This is very common in retail.

6- Another problem with internal communication is when the company focuses on a social class, marketing is aimed at that class, and the internal product development team is focused on another segment. Many retailers suffer from this.

7- But the biggest problem is the failure in execution. Either there is no project (focus), or it is abandoned in day-to-day operations.

While focus is crucial for success, being too rigid can limit the company's adaptability to changes in the market. Finding a balance between having a defined focus and being flexible enough to adapt to changes is essential for many companies.

If we look at Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and other successful companies, we find that they maintain their focus and deviate little or not at all from it. They can adapt, adjust, but to stay within the focus.

If we look at Brazil, we see interesting cases, from a lack of focus to a deviation from it. These companies usually will struggle to survive. Take the case of Americanas, what do we associate with the company? Selling "Sonho de Valsa"?

We know food retailers that at a certain point expanded their product portfolio, including electronics, tires, etc., when there are already established specialized stores in these sectors. This requires more space, more costs, etc. These focus changes should be preceded by robust studies/research.

Do a test: conduct an internal survey and ask what the company's focus is. Then ask the same question to customers/consumers.

Many companies do not listen to the market; at most, they use the "information" from the sales team, which is insufficient.

If you cannot summarize the focus of your company in a sentence, it is already a sign of a problem.

Saying that the focus is on the customer or on the company's profit is shallow and obvious. No one wants to incur losses. These platitudes lead to nothing.

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