Navigating Strategic Development, Strategy Tax and the Opportunity in Uncertainty in Agribusiness

Developing strategy, leaning into strategy taxes and how uncertainty plays into opportunity and profitability for agribusinesses.

This week I read an article from Ken Zuckerberg, who always bring a unique perspective to the industry.

In Who’s On Your Digital Dance Card? Ken astutely suggests to retailers the need to have “a way to engage digitally with the farmer ..that helps reduce the timing constraints and stress involved with input purchases.”

This view is aligned with the concept I talk about frequently in having a friction reduction mindset at the heart of what you are doing as an ag retailer, or any agribusiness:

Ken goes on to say that one of the biggest risks to retailers is inaction and there is a need to explore options to service your customer effectively today. I agree.

But I think there is still a need for thoughtful contemplation.

I would suggest taking a step back before making these leaps— not because it is inherently bad to post prices online, but because all decisions need to be thought of in a more coherent, all-encompassing strategy for an ag retailer or as an agribusiness.

Tactical efforts are like a Rubik’s cube— a move in one direction means a new challenge to overcome in another.

There are always trade-offs.

The example in the article is having prices easily accessible online. This effort isn’t as simple as posting them online and seeing if it works. That endeavor will affect the rest of a retailer’s offering.

It creates a chain reaction that needs to be considered in the context of staff incentives, positioning to customers, product sourcing, margin targets, what your differentiators are, and more.

To effectively navigate this chain reaction, there is a need to build a structured strategy, and lean into the strategy tax and uncertainty surrounding it.

The dynamics of these three areas are covered below.