Marketing Assets and Resources

Companies think that they have a complete list of their assets on their balance sheets: physical assets, accounts receivable, working capital, and the like. But their real assets are off balance sheet items such as the value of their brands, employees, distribution partners, suppliers, and intellectual knowledge including patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

You need to go further and list your core competencies and core processes as assets. Any special skills and proprietary processes are assets. Strategy is essentially the way a company chooses to link its competencies, core processes, and other assets to win marketplace battles.

At the same time, don’t limit your search for opportunities by starting with your assets and resources. First look outside the firm for your opportunities, and then see if you have or can attract the needed resources and competencies.

I have always been impressed with 3M’s willingness to go after a promising opportunity even if it lacked the requisite resources. You can always buy or outsource them.