It’s important to have a good strategy in place for the growth of your business. A well-planned strategy can help you achieve your goals, while also ensuring that your business stays relevant in a constantly changing market. But what are the key ingredients of a good strategy? In this blog, we will explore some of the essential components that should be a part of any good strategy.
A Purpose A clear purpose is the foundation of any good strategy. It defines the reason why your business exists and what it aims to achieve. Your purpose should answer questions like: What problem do you solve? Who do you solve it for? And what is your solution within the greater context of this problem? For example, “People are sad in the world, we want to make people happier” is a noble purpose, but it does not inform much about your business. On the other hand, “We believe we can bring happiness to the world by bringing lifestyle content and products to people looking to lead healthier lives” is a more specific and meaningful purpose.
Strategic Goals Strategic goals are the specific outcomes you want to achieve through your business strategy. It’s important to ensure that these goals are SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Goals such as “maximize customers,” “be no.1,” and “maximize income” are not SMART goals. They are more like aspirations that do not help you in achieving your goals.
The Market You Operate In Understanding the market you operate in is crucial for the success of your business. This includes having a sense of your total available market, your served market, and your target market. By understanding your market, you can identify opportunities for growth and assess the competition you may face.
Context/Research Context and research are crucial for any good strategy. This involves understanding the context of your strategic approach, such as why these goals, why this audience, and why this approach. For example, if your strategy includes abandoning three legacy revenue streams that your staff has been working on for years, even seeing growth in, why would you do this? It’s important to do research and analysis to see if you can have a lower cost, higher return stream from the same audience in another area.
Framework for Delivery Once you understand the internal setup of your organization, you can build a strategy that works best for you. This involves developing a framework for delivery that takes into account your company's size and structure. Whether you are an enterprise level, SME, start-up, etc., it’s important to tailor your strategy to your company's needs.
Understanding How Goals are Achieved Understanding how goals are achieved involves identifying the drivers, funnels, and enablers that will help you achieve your goals. Drivers are what will drive the goal, such as sales. Funnels are how people will get to your website or other platforms. Enablers are the staff, skills, tools, and processes you will need to create this activity and drive sales.
A Strategy for Your Size Finally, it’s important to tailor your strategy to your company's size. If you have 1-10 people, keep it short and simple with a focus on purpose, brand, and key goals. For 10-50 people, focus on building a solid foundation and developing a clear vision. For 50-200 people, focus on building a strong team and establishing processes. For 200+, focus on scaling your business and expanding your reach.
In conclusion, a good strategy is essential for the growth and success of your business. It should have a clear purpose, strategic goals, an understanding of the market you operate in, your audience, context/research, a framework for delivery and actions/targets to achieve your goals.
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