Published on

Mar 2024

How Provar Redefined Their Market Strategy with Metavolve

Use Case

Provar, a research and development company in the deciduous fruit industry, faced a critical juncture. After years of organic growth, the founder Dr. Iwan Labuschagne wanted to change how they interacted with the market – to stop reacting and start leading with a clear, innovative vision.

This case study delves into how Provar, with Metavolve’s guidance, started a significant change. They aimed to sharpen their strategic focus, increase their commitment to sustainability, and strengthen their management team’s ability to face upcoming challenges. This journey led Provar to take control of their position in the market and chart a fresh, successful path forward.

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The challenge

Steering Towards Autonomy and Strategic Clarity

Provar was founded to bridge a gap in the deciduous fruit industry for independent evaluation of crops. However, their growth has mainly been due to how reactive they’ve been to each of their stakeholders needs. At this point, they started looking for a solution to transition from an externally influenced strategy to one of self-defined direction and purpose.Going through Metavolve’s Strategy Development Process, their goal was to craft a clear and actionable strategy that could be communicated effectively across the company. With this clarity, the idea was to empower managers in their decision-making and gradually reduce Iwan’s central role to secure the company’s sustainable future.

Dr. Iwan Labuschagne

Founder & CEO, Provar

Our company was less focused on business than it was on investigating possibilities of growth. We were trying stuff out and then learning that it's not working. Tristan and Tatenda also repeatedly have shown out some aspects in terms of my leadership that need some changes and some more focus.

The Approach

Sharpening Focus and Defining Future

To help Iwan and his leadership team commit to a direction to grow the business more reliably, Metavolve facilitated a new Strategy Development process. This intimate and structured approach was tailored for them to efficiently redefine and take ownership of their relationship with their market.

1. Clarifying Market Positioning

The initial step was an in-depth analysis to redefine Provar’s market engagement. Through customer segmentation, Metavolve helped Provar identify and understand the diverse needs of their customer base, moving beyond a reactive approach to stakeholder demands. This process involved dissecting the market to pinpoint where Provar could deliver the most value, repositioning them not just as service providers but as essential partners in the deciduous fruit industry.

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2. Honing Competitive Advantages

In reevaluating Provar’s place within the market, we used Porter’s Five Forces to look at their competitive advantages through a customer-centric lens. This approach allowed us to assess Provar’s unique strengths against the backdrop of customer needs, industry rivalry, potential new entrants, supplier power, and the threat of substitutes. By understanding the dynamics affecting their market from a customer’s perspective, Provar was able to refine its competitive strategies and ultimately become the preferred partner in the deciduous fruit industry.

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3. Refining the Vision

Through the process, aligning the company’s future direction with the redefined market and honed competitive advantages was critical. Metavolve facilitated a process to clarify Provar’s long-term vision, ensuring it was both ambitious and attainable. This involved setting strategic goals that resonate with the newly identified market position and competitive strengths, providing a clear roadmap for all levels of the organisation and reducing dependency on Iwan for day-to-day decisions.

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4. Empowering Managerial Decision-Making

Finally, one critical point of our collaboration was the empowerment of Provar’s leadership team. By actively involving managers in the Strategy Development process, they gained a deeper understanding of the company’s direction and objectives. Their inclusion fostered a sense of ownership and clarity, enabling them to make informed decisions aligned with the overarching strategy and contribute to the sustainable growth of Provar.

The Outcomes

Ready for Structured and Sustainable Growth

1. Strategic Clarity and Roadmap

Following Metavolve’s intervention, Provar has been transitioning from a reactive entity within the industry to a proactive market leader with a clear, customer-focused strategy. This strategic shift is not only solidifying their reputation as the go-to experts for independent crop evaluation, but also opening new opportunities for engagement and growth within and beyond their existing market segments.

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2. Clear, Communicable Vision for the Future

With a refined vision and strategic roadmap, Provar’s leadership, including Dr. Iwan Labuschagne, started to focus on long-term goals rather than daily operational tasks. This shift is now enabling a more sustainable business model, reducing founder dependency and fostering a culture of innovation and autonomy within the team.

Tatenda Kawhena

COO, Provar

The biggest realization for me was understanding how to prioritize our company's endeavors. With numerous potential paths, the strategy became about discerning what we should or shouldn't do. Over the past months, our team has been evaluating our goals, assessing where we are as a company, and deciding what's feasible. This process illuminated our limitations and helped us understand what's needed to achieve our objectives. It's led to a more focused approach. We've learned we can't tackle everything; instead, we select and concentrate our efforts on specific tasks. This focus has been transformative over the last five months, adding substance to our objectives. We're now clearer on what we can achieve this year and what we must set aside.

Tristan Dorfling

Strategy Manager, Provar

From this process, I've gained a comprehensive overview of our business and I've been able to think critically about how these elements interconnect. This process allowed us to make informed decisions, leading to outcomes agreed upon by our team. It's been an interesting and enjoyable journey, significantly influenced by our discussions with you. Before these conversations, even attempting this level of strategic planning would have been challenging. Initially, the purpose of our meetings wasn't clear to us, but as we progressed, it unlocked a new way of thinking. This shift not only changed our approach to business but made it more focused. Now, we're actively implementing strategies, monitoring progress, and assessing improvements—a stark contrast to our position just a few months ago.

In Short

Metavolve’s Strategy Development Process provided Provar’s leadership with the clarity and structure they needed to navigate the path towards sustainable growth. It marked the start of an evolution from reactive player to market leader, guided by a strategy they own. The process has sharpened their market position and highlighted their competitive edges, while charting a clear course for growth and empowering the leadership team in their decision-making.

Are you ready to redefine your strategy and take command of your market so that you can start empowering your leaders and reclaim your autonomy? Contact the Metavolve team today to discover how our strategy development process can empower you with the clarity and confidence to grow your business sustainably.

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