Through our many years of experience, we’ve helped clients understand that strategy gives structure to how they operate so they can take their business to the next level of growth and success. Building a business is a bit like building a house. It’s essential to start with a good blueprint (business and operating models), lay strong foundations with the internal frame (strategy) and then begin to build out the rooms (strategic initiatives). Everything happens in a logical sequence, and just like building a house, your blueprint helps you determine the resources and time required so you can narrow your scope, decide what you can achieve and build it in a structured way.
Drawing on our depth of experience, we’ve put together FIVE critical success factors that will help SMEs build and implement strategies that get results.
Get laser-focused
One of the many reasons we love working with SME owners is their passion and incredible ability to generate ideas and create opportunities. A sound strategic framework helps assess and decide where business owners should spend their time and resources. Say you’ve got ten incredible ideas – how can you rank them in order of priority? What opportunity is going to be the most profitable? Where are you going to get the best ROI?
Getting laser-focused means building a solid strategic foundation and a roadmap that helps you pivot quickly when things aren’t going well or scale when they are. It’s also critical to make fact-based decisions, so ensure you measure financially, forecasting numbers correctly and accessing and interpreting all your business data.
Take a structured programmatic approach.
Strategy execution is a change program that will be made up of many different initiatives. For your strategy to be successful, you’ll need to do them in sequence – some initiatives will need to happen before others can follow.
If you find yourself with what looks like a great idea, and you end up running around in lots of different directions trying to chase that opportunity, you’re going to create a lot of confusion within your business. That’s why it is so important to have a programmatic approach and run it as a proper change program.
Build your three C’s
Capability
Have you got the right people in the right jobs to help you execute? As you build out your business, are you able to manage wider environments, broader teams, and more complicated operations? At this critical time, you need to think about how you will drive your business forward in a sophisticated way and make sure you’ve got the right people to help you take it to the next level.
Capacity
Typically, a strategic plan is developed to cover at least three to five years. So, you’re looking at a three to five-year horizon, and not everything needs to get done in that first year. The programmatic approach will help you decide what you do in that first year, what comes in the second and the years following. Don’t get too aggressive – you don’t want to start too many things that end up half-baked and poorly done!
Culture
Winning the hearts and minds of all your employees and management is essential. This is where you’ll find the art and science of strategy. The science is ensuring all the numbers stack up and each initiative links to a financial goal. The art is how do we bring our people along. It’s critical to get buy-in from everyone who has a role to play in your business, so think about how you will celebrate success, reward people and communicate your strategic goals.
Don’t go it Alone
Building your strategy and strategic execution is a team sport – you cannot do it alone. Surround yourself with a good leadership team and harness the knowledge, skills, and drive you to have amongst them and your employees.
It’s also ok to ask for help. You’re not expected to know and do everything – that’s a risky way to run a business! So lean on your management team and seek external advice when you need it.
If it’s not working, let it go.
Certain things can hold a business back in terms of growth, profitability and cash flow – once you’ve identified them, it’s time for a change. The data doesn’t lie, so if something is not working – even if it’s your favourite idea, product or opportunity – you need to let them go.
Don’t get too protective of the status quo because it will hold you exactly there – things you do just because it’s the way you’ve always done them can delay you and lumber you down.
You also don’t have to fall in love with a specific idea to make it work. Judge your ideas and opportunities on their merit (and the data).
If you want to have a confidential conversation about how we can help you build your strategy to help take your business to the next level, email us today at info@activedirections.com.au