An introduction to business strategy

Defining your business strategy helps you make the most of your resources so you can achieve your goals. A good business strategy can be the difference between surviving and thriving.

Many businesses expand to a point where the founder can no longer do everything themselves. This is a great time to start thinking about a strategy that will guide your business to achieve its objectives, eg by empowering others to make decisions. Having a clearly defined strategy to meet your business goals can also help you explain your business to your employees, networks, mentors, advisors, accountants, borrowers and investors. It’s critical for steps like seeking finance.

Overall, the result of a good strategy is that you stay profitable over the long run, avoid making common mistakes, and stay ahead of the competition. A strategy creates a shared sense of your mission, helping everyone in the business understand what you’re working towards. It can help you:

• prioritise work
• make the right decisions
• say ‘no’ to distractions
• make the most of your position in the market.

If you’re facing lots of competition, creating a strategy means identifying your advantage and your ideal position in the market. Then you can plan activities to get you there.

Working on your strategy will help you find your keys to success, and set a direction to take for achieving your goals. It can also help you expand into innovative products or services. Without a clear business strategy, you could make decisions that conflict with each other, or end up in a poor financial and competitive position.