It is important to define your organization or business before you start a business. You can define your business on the basis of what you are going to offer, products, service or idea. It is also important to understand the benefits of your products and services. Business organizations can also be defined on the basis of your target markets, the potential customers that you are offering your products to buy.Part of your business definition includes definition of your target market profile.Another way of defining your business is on the basis of how you will provide your offer, how you perform key activities such as buying your product, manufacturing your product and receiving payments. It is important to understand the industry and the type of organization you want to establish.It is important to articulate your mission properly, your vision and corporate culture of your business organization should also be articulated. Your corporate culture can be shaped by the environment the corporate culture is supported by the company's value. What your company beliefs in is a core values, these fundamental ethical and moral values are the foundation of your business organization and the guidance when making decisions. These decisions could be about quality, price,customer service, quantity or timeliness. The business organization mission is to satisfy customers one way or the other. This has to be stated in the organization mission statement for all to understand.SEE EXH..5-1, PAGE 142. The company vision statement is how the company view the past, present and future of the industry, the organization and market. It is where and what you want your organization to be.The company corporate culture is about the work environment. To be successful and fulfill your goals in the mission and vision statement, a strategy is needed for implementing the goals and in doing better than the competition. Your strategy in any functional area in which you are very competent at is your core competency. Your core competency when well articulated and implemented will usher in the business organizations competitive advantage. The competitive advantage must be sustainable. You can also arrive at your competitive advantage by determining the needs and wants of your organization.Competitive advantage can also be derived from quality, when your products and services are better than those of the competition. It also be through lower price, better location,better selection,customer service or speed of delivery.To be competitive, the competition must be studied and analyses, to determine their strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. This type of analysis is known as SWOT analysis. SEE EXH..5-4,5-5,PAGE 150.The competitive strategy must allign with the business definition in order to have a competitive advantage. Strategy is a plan of how you hope to out perform the competition. Your tactics is how you will implement your strategy. It is important to produce and sell a single unitbetter, quicker and at lower cost than the competition. This can be possible through economics of scale, learning curve etc. It is important to know how much profit is to be made when a single unit is made and sold. SEE PAGES 152-155. QUESTIONS: 1 What would be your core beliefs, mission and vision statements when you are are starting a business? 2 Discuss competitive advantage, competitive strategy and core competency