"Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat" – Sun Tzu.
There is no guarantee of success for any business and the failure rate in the first three years of a business is high. Even established successful companies can lose their way.
A company can improve the odds for success by having a blend of skills and temperaments within its leaders. A natural entrepreneur will always be looking for new opportunities and excitement and moving the goal posts while the rest of the team are still trying to get to grips with the last initiative.
Someone alongside who is happier with the detail and who can act as a constructive foil to the entrepreneur’s exuberance can make a real difference to implementing achievable aims and projects. A company can improve the odds for success by having a blend of skills and temperaments within its leaders.
Not all companies are large enough to have a good mix of skills and aptitudes in their management teams. Some will have grown by recruiting people who are similar to the person who is hiring because it is the natural tendency to employ those that we feel most comfortable with. To some extent the process of creating a structured strategic plan can assist an entrepreneur because the process itself can provide the opportunities to consider not only alternative strategies but also the practicalities of implementing them. This benefit can be enhanced considerably by utilising a skilled facilitator to provide guidance and support throughout the creation of the plan.
Every business can improve its performance and chances of success by planning strategically. Regardless of whether it is achieving current success, stuck in a rut, needing to refocus its objectives or simply wanting to enjoy doing business again; the process of creating a strategic plan can make a big difference. Every business can improve its performance and chances of success by planning strategically The start point always needs to be to clarify where the business is now and what are the critical issues facing the company.
This needs an open and frank assessment to be made which a skilled facilitator will assist to draw out. It is important to be given the space to consider radical departures from previous practices but to be realistic as to the outcomes achievable and to achieve a consensus among the leaders as to the strategic objectives to be pursued. With these objectives clearly defined the work can begin to review all elements of the operations with the intention to identify actions that would move the company closer to achieving those objectives. The marketing strategy within the company deserves particular and careful consideration as it is crucial to the future profitability and viability of the company to have a detailed sales and marketing plan that will be the driver towards the strategic objectives. Every point of contact with an existing or potential customer will rarely be neutral; it is either positive or negative. With this in mind it is important that the sales and marketing plan does not lose sight of the necessity to convey to the outside world the innate values of the company and in addition encourages every member of the business to live by those values.
Ultimately any business is only as good as its people and clear strategies are needed to continually develop their skills and the culture so that they continue to be a group that others want to do business with. This has to be constant from the top and even in these hard times a smile costs nothing but can be an immense investment. Ultimately any business is only as good as its people. On several occasions whilst facilitating a strategic planning day, there has been a true revelation to the team from one of their number who had thought that the issue was self evident and had not previously mentioned it. Every member of a team has blind spots or limited knowledge but may have a solution if only they knew that the problem existed. By ensuring a structured approach to strategic planning entrepreneurs can be empowered to target their creativity better in collaboration with their colleagues.