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The ‘Turnover is King’ mentality excludes options for innovation, because to maintain a low cost operation R&D and creativity are often the first things that are scratched out.

Everyone has the opportunity to pitch their business in one of three main camps offering price, innovation or some mixture of both. What Michael Porter in 1985 called Cost Leadership and Differentiation. Those that can run a truly low cost service, offering the traditionally any colour as long as it is black (or white in this case) product can be successful and have proved to be in the past. At the other end of the spectrum those offering something truly special and innovative can justify pricing that reflects additional maybe intangible benefits associated with their products. Somewhere between these two strategies is the valley of death where neither is achieved and the company never really meets it potential for profitability.

Unfortunately a lot of businesses don't realise that selling cheap is not the same as having cost focus. To be really good at offering low prices the organisation has to be structured accordingly and a low cost operation achieved. Even if this is done well in the local market you always get new entrants competing from a lower initial cost base. How can Rover Group compete with China in manufacturing when trained engineers in China are paid only $200 per month? To achieve costs focus and compete successfully in a modern market we not only have to be slick at what we do to beat our normal competitors, but we also have to beat those with a 20 metre head start.

The second option is to differentiate. If you can avoid head to head competition, it doesn't matter if the competitor's price is less. You can offer something they don't have. Do something they can't do. Be creative. If your product is the same as everyone else's its easy for the customer to switch. A customer that you win on price will move away on price just as fast. If you can offer something else, something special, something that enhances your customer's life, something that ‘adds value’, then you are worth the extra cost. Look at Sony. Are their laptops really two or three times as good as Dell’s?

In the window industry there are many opportunities to differentiate. We already have brands known to the householder and underpinned by advertised reaffirmations. A strong brand is a great place to be and one where the benefits include higher prices. Unfortunately we don't all have that advantage. However we could offer something that is not white.

No not the same old Mahogany or Golden Oak, not even Rosewood, but what about Cream, Dark Oak, or what about Beech? What about something new?

Why not just pick a colour that only you can offer? Why not mix colours – Dark oak externally and Beech internal? You might even get featured on TV. Help make your customer's product special. It would certainly be something to offer exclusively for a particular new build estate.

The trouble is nobody is surprised to hear the questions ‘Aren't windows mostly white?’. Which is why we are all worried about price. Oh and the third camp? Those that don't achieve low cost and aren't different enough to achieve a premium? They just muddle along, never being the best and often being bust.