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Strategic Management

BwO Term Project Overview

By Jona Peters

Hi everyone! Today I am going to talk about my process working with BwO. Let me take this title slide as an opportunity to intro you to the company and founder BwO- Bodies without Organs is a firm in the works founded by Pilar Gallego. Pilar is a designer, tailor and style consultant. They made a strategic shift towards their passion for slow fashion and serving their community after a career as a visual artist in 2020. They currently live and work in Portland. At the core BwO is a bespoke, or custom made clothing company that serves Non-binary and Trans folks.

A lot of this project was spent being in a business coaching role, getting the opportunity to try and digest what we’ve been learning, then share it with them and begin to apply it to the way they structure their business. They are still in the process of launching, so the timing of this inquiry of how best to implement strategic fit into the fabric of their company is pretty great.

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Today we will cover:

Defining the Industry
Evaluating the Mission, Vision and Strategic Intent Statements
Crafting Objectives
Analyzing the External Environment

Driving Forces
O & T
5 Forces

Analyzing the Internal Environment

S & W

Identifying a Fitting Strategy

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Define the Industry !?

Tip

Small scale clothing design and manufacturing firms serving the LGBTQ community

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Strategic Vision:

The BwO vision is to bridge liberated bodies with liberated style.

Mission:

To create custom clothing that upholds timeless design, thoughtful details, quality of materials and artistry. To serve non-binary folks in finding their unlimited potential through style. To reject the industrialization of menswear by offering made-to-measure clothing specifically tailored to your measurements and your desires.

Strategic Intent:

To liberate bodies from the limiting gender binary. To move beyond oppression and exclusion. To make strides towards freedom of self expression.

In this part we asking? “Are the values consistent with organizational behavior? Does the mission drive toward vision?”

Strategic Vision: The BwO vision is to bridge liberated bodies with liberated style.

Meets criteria: graphic, forward looking, memorable, some wiggle room, distinctive language. Need work: indicate why the path makes good business sense, be less vague.

Mission: To create custom clothing that upholds timeless design, thoughtful details, quality of materials and artistry. To serve non-binary folks in finding their unlimited potential through style. To reject the industrialization of menswear by offering made-to-measure clothing specifically tailored to your measurements and your desires.

Meets criteria: linked to Strategic Intent, identifies products, specifies the buyer & their need, identifies approach to pleasing customers, sets firm apart. Needs work: clarify firms business to all stakeholders, identify consulting service

Strategic Intent: original version:

To liberate bodies from the limiting gender binary. Freedom of self expression.

Meets criteria: grandest goal. Needs work: Why is this important?

Revision: To liberate bodies from the limiting gender binary. To move beyond oppression and exclusion. To make strides towards freedom of self expression.

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Identify all costs
Create 3 ready-to-wear garment style
Implement Marketing Plan Including:

Develop aesthetic of the brand - colors & font
Start an Instagram account for Body Without Organs - post at least 2x a week to attract followers
Develop a Website

Link to https://pgallego.com/
POS with calendar compatibility
SEO
Develop target customer personas

Crafting Objectives

In terms of crafting objectives professor lahr presents these questions as guidance:

“Are both strategic and financial objectives evident? Is the complexity and the projected timing of the Objectives consistent with the status of the organization? Will completing the Objectives support the implementation of the Mission & progress toward the Vision?”

I am including this section because a lot of this project in terms of collaborating with Pilar was meeting them where they are at. If we considering financial objectives in this case we needed to make a tangible and immediate objective of just identifying all costs, and differentiating the different kinds of costs. And then next focusing on design of 3 ready to roll styles and ideally this would happening at the same time as the marketing plan. The marketing plan is pretty straight forward since Pilar doesn’t have a business background and will be doing it themselves I tried to keep it doable: develop the aesthetic of the brand, start and maintain a social media presence, and develop a website that’s going to serve the firms needs.

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Analyzing the External Environment

What is the market segment to monitor, forecast and cruise?

What are the driving forces causing change to the industry?

The crucial questions for analyzing the external environment

What is the market segment to monitor, forecast, and cruise - just kidding I meant assess. We identified this segment as:

Non-binary & transgender folks that appreciate masculine/androgynous aesthetic
College-educated, young professionals, artist and creative class
Age range: 18 - 55
Live in cities
Care about purchasing within in their community or in alignment with their politics

What are the driving forces causing change to the industry?

Expanded understanding of gender in the general population. Expanded gender expression in fashion and Tik Tok. there is an Increased awareness of the harm of fast fashion and that is creating openness to spend more money for slow fashion options. Use of instagram to generate an audience and revenue. Social movements making consumers more aware of the need to support BIPOC businesses. Global pandemic making online purchasing the main revenue source.

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Threats:

High costs make it challenging to break-even
Price point barrier
Bigger manufacturers could begin to cater to market segment tastes
Online shopping does not showcase the quality

Opportunities:

Expanding gender paradigm shifts the fashion market and consumer needs
Direct sales with Instagram
Collaborations with Queer artists

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A translation barrier left Alberto feeling lonely and hurt Marco’s business.

Tip

Ideally, speak of people in very different situations, but where each could benefit from your solution.

5 Forces

Which forces tend to be the Strongest: Bargaining Power of Suppliers & Threat of Substitute Service

Which forces tend to be the Weakest: Bargaining Power of Buyers, Intensity of Rivalry & Threat of New Entrants

5 Forces Analysis:

Bargaining Power of Buyers:

Low to Moderate bargaining power of buyers.

Customers served by these smaller scale clothing design and manufacturing firms appear to be less sensitive to price with most items. They are willing to pay more in order to have products that serve their unique needs and that are made by people within their community. Firms that specialize in make-to-order, or limited release items are the least sensitive to price and the buyers in these cases have the least power.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers:

Moderate to high bargaining power of suppliers. The different suppliers include:

Materials suppliers

Fabric suppliers

Debt providers with debt suppliers having the highest bargaining power.

Threat of New Entrants:

Low threat of new entrants.

barriers to entry are relatively low & Generally low entry/exit barriers can create the potential for a moderate frequency of entry, despite capital requirements increasing for additional equipment and labor as designers scale up production. But competitors don't appear to change their behavior as a result.

Threat of Substitute Services:

Threat of substitution high.

Substitutions include: other bespoke tailors that don’t serve the LGBTQ community specifically and fast fashion options that are generally normatively gendered. These substitutes are vastly different.

In the case of the substitute of fast fashion options there is a huge threat of profit loss in the industry. The industry tries to insulate itself from this threat by implementing a strategy of quality craftsmanship, unique value propositions and not trying to compete on price points set by fast fashion standards.

Intensity of Rivalry:

Intensity of rivalry is overall low.

There is low competitive convergence. This is due to high specialization and diversity of competitive approaches. None of the factors that influence competition are resulting in firms taking actions that affect profitability.

Which forces tend to be the strongest: Bargaining Power of Suppliers & Threat of Substitute Service

Which forces tend to be the weakest: Bargaining Power of Buyers, Intensity of Rivalry & Threat of New Entrants

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Analyzing the Internal Environment

Unique Value Proposition

Value Chain Positioning

What is the unique Value proposition for BwO

Customers will receive personal care and attention to the way a garment fits their body from someone who identifies as transmasculine and knows the challenges of shopping for clothing that fits properly and is flattering. They will be heard and receive desired outcomes, offering the highest quality fabrics and materials as well as professional advice on fit. They will benefit from slow fashion craftsmanship from a tailor with a visual arts background with an eye for color, pattern, texture, and taste for classic style.

In terms of the Value Chain: we want to make sure there isn’t any value leaked out

Products can be purchased online and shipped. Services such as client style consultation will take place in the studio or on zoom. In these consultations care will be given to take body measurements in a body positive manner. Fabrics will be hand selected to match the customers tastes and fittings can occur if in person. Another key aspect of the value delivered will be addressing style goals to meet the customer’s lifestyle needs.

Cooperative strategies:

Collaborate with queer artists on tote bag design
Collaborate with queer crafts people for expanded customer reach
Find brand ambassadors to expand value proposition reach

Directional strategies:

Outsourcing certain labor intensive items

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Weaknesses:

Social media presence is still gaining followers and not fully established
Sewing and design skills still being built
Limited tools and equipment
Studio not accessible to the pubic

Strengths:

Welll positioned in the arts and queer community
Informed on current fashion trends
Service and product revenue streams
Slow-fashion intentional scaling
Deep commitment to community
Value-aligned business based on social entrepreneurship
Commitment to quality and sustainability
Passion and dedication to the craft

Strengths

The Founder is welll positioned in the arts and queer community from previous career

They are Informed on current fashion trends this includes: Accumulated knowledge base of designers, historical fashion trends, and companies

There is Both a service and product revenue streams
There is a Deep commitment to community
It is a Value-aligned business based on social entrepreneurship
Theres is a Commitment to Slow-fashion which also means intentional scaling in future growth stages

That is also connected to a commitment to quality and sustainability

And last but not least Passion and dedication to the craft

Weaknesses:

Their Social media presence is still gaining followers and not fully established

Not to just throw them under the bus here but Sewing and design skills still being built

Limited tools and equipment, they will need more machines as the business grows and

The current Studio not accessible

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Identifying a Fitting Strategy

BwO is positioned for a niche-differentiation strategy. The BwO value proposition is based in quality and high customer input that doesn't allow for price reduction to ensure success. Using a low-cost strategy would leak value from the value-chain. “The actions of the firm and the strategy must align.” For Bwo bespoke tailoring and consulting services that take individual needs into consideration is in alignment with a niche-differentiation strategy.

Trade offs & Fit

BwO is positioned for a niche-broad differentiation strategy. The BwO value proposition is based in quality and high customer input that doesn't allow for price reduction to ensure success. Using a low-cost strategy would leak value from the value-chain. The actions for the firm and the strategy must align and in this case bespoke tailoring and consulting services that take individual needs into consideration is in alignment with niche-broad differentiation.

Cooperative strategies:

Collaborate with queer artists on tote bag design
Collaborate with queer crafts people for expanded customer reach
Find brand ambassadors to expand value proposition reach

Directional strategies:

Outsourcing certain labor intensive items

Trade offs:

“...choosing what not to do.”

For BwO outsourcing all manufacturing would not be in alignment with their strategy because their value proposition is based on personal attention. It is imperative that when hiring or collaborating with people that the new team members understand the community served. Purchasing from unsustainable sources is another trade-off that should be avoided.

Fit:

“...consistency with strategic intent as the guide.”

For Bwo expanding the clothing line slowly to leverage what is successful and meet demand is part of implementing their strategy. The firm will to continue to survey customer needs and adapt to serve Non-binary and Trans population. Part of how this function is through direct feedback and conducting surveys for increased market research. Locating collaborators and or cross-marketing opportunities within queer community is another aspect of implementing strategic fit.