Then you want to look at your current strategic position. Take a look around you. What is happening internally with your business and what is happening externally in the market? This could determine how and why you need to change what you do and how you do it. One means to do this is by using a SWOT analysis. You should review your strategic position regularly through the use of a SWOT. SWOT is an acronym standing for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. These elements are crucial in assessing your strategic position. You want to build on your company’s strengths, protect against the weaknesses, capitalize on the opportunities and understand the threats.
Where am I headed?
The elements of the question ‘where am I headed’ will assist you in answering other questions. For example, ‘What will my business look like in the future?’, or ‘What future do I want to create for my business?’ None of us can predict the future of course, but that does not prevent you having a vision for where you would like to progress to. If you do not know the answer, no-one else can. So, as you start to think about how to define your business strategy of the future, consider these two points.
1. Sustainable competitive advantage
A sustainable competitive advantage describes and explains what you’re best at doing compared to your competitors.
Think about your areas of specialism that set you apart from the competition. Each company strives to create an advantage that continues to be competitive. What is your point of uniqueness? What can your business potentially do better than anyone else? And remember the competition has a habit of catching up too, so it is important you take time periodically to ‘sharpen your saw’ to ensure you remain one step ahead.
2. Vision statement
Your vision is about formulating in your mind an image of what your business’s future make-up will be and where it is headed. Is it possible to see what your business might look like in 5 to 10 years from now? Yes entirely possible!
How will I get there?
Knowing how you’ll reach and achieve your vision is the central plank in your strategic plan. It will eat your time and the reason it takes so much time to develop is because there will be many routes from your current position to achieve your vision. Take time to try and pick the right avenues. As part of your planning, you will need to consider all of the following:
Your strategic objectives
Strategic objectives involve long- term planning that will help you connect your mission to your vision. Consider your financial, customer, operational and people strategies. And most importantly, what are the core activities you will need to perform successfully in order to achieve your vision?
Action items
Action items are about implementing your plans which when set against specific actions will lead to achievement of your goals. You should project start and finish dates where possible; and are your action items expansive and ambitious enough to achieve your desired goals?
Execution and delivery
Proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say; so will you commit the necessary investment, resources and time to support the plan and ensure it has every chance of success?
Benchmarking
It is important to set key performance indicators (KPIs) as milestones. This means you can easily measures your progress against your strategic plan. You should identify between six and a dozen KPIs (which you should review regularly) to monitor whether you’re making progress and are hitting your milestones.
The Report • December 2017 • Issue 82 | 67
Strategy
Strategy establishes a way to match your business’s strengths with current market opportunities. You must position your business in ways so that it comes to mind when a potential customer has a need of the type of services you offer.
Monitorable goals
Each goal should be specific and measurable in one way or another. What are your goals over the next 12 months? And over 3 years?
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