Potton matrix method divides the company's business into four types: problem, star, cash cow and thin dog.
Problem business refers to the business with high market growth rate and low relative market share. This is often a new business of a company. In order to develop the problem business, the company must set up factories and increase equipment and personnel in order to keep up with the rapidly developing market and surpass its competitors, which means a lot of capital investment. The question accurately describes the company's attitude towards this kind of business, because at this time the company must carefully answer whether to continue to invest and develop this kind of business. This question. Only those businesses that meet the long-term development goals of enterprises, have resource advantages and can enhance the core competitiveness of enterprises can get a positive answer.
Star business refers to the business with high market growth rate and high relative market share, which is developed through continuous investment in problem business. It can be regarded as the leader in the fast-growing market and will become the cash cow business of the company in the future. However, this does not mean that the star business will certainly bring rolling financial resources to enterprises, because the market is still growing at a high speed, and enterprises must continue to invest to keep up with the pace of market growth and repel competitors. Without star business, enterprises lose hope, but the flicker of stars may also dazzle top managers and lead to wrong decisions. At this time, it is necessary to have the ability to identify planets and stars, and put the limited resources of enterprises into stars that can develop into cash cows.
Cash cow business refers to the business with low market growth rate and high relative market share, and it is the leader in mature markets. It is the source of cash for enterprises. Because the market is mature, enterprises don't need a lot of investment to expand the market scale. At the same time, as a market leader, this business enjoys the advantages of economies of scale and high marginal profits, thus bringing a lot of financial resources to enterprises. Enterprises often use cash cow business to pay accounts and support three other businesses that need a lot of cash. The company shown in the picture has only one cash cow business, which shows that its financial situation is very fragile. Because once the market environment changes, if the market share of this business declines, the company will have to withdraw cash from other business departments to maintain the leading position of the cash cow, otherwise the powerful cash cow may weaken or even become a thin dog.
Thin dog business refers to the business with low market growth rate and low relative market share. Under normal circumstances, this kind of business is often meager profit or even loss. The reason why the thin dog business exists is more because of emotional factors. Although it has been operating at a low profit, it is as reluctant to give up as a dog that has been raised for many years. In fact, the thin dog business usually takes up a lot of resources, such as funds and management time. And in many cases, it is not worth the loss.