Beata Leyland
Business Owner & Author of this article & Business Strategy Freak
So many of us think about ourselves, our decisions as strategic yet creating a good plan is something with which the majority of us truly struggle. Why? Because we confuse tactics with strategy.
Intrigued ?
Strategic means planned, carefully designed aiming long-term.
Stepping away from these adjectives I would describe someone as strategic who has the courage to think inside and outside of the schema to achieve goals.
Someone who has a vision and a plan, but is also not afraid to change in order to achieve the end-goal.
So many of us think about ourselves, our decisions as strategic yet creating a good plan is something with which the majority of us truly struggle.
Why? Because we confuse tactics with strategy.
Tactics are plans /assumptions how to achieve what we want but not a goal.
How to be strategic?
I would start from the basics and define the long-term goal/s.
Goal must be realistic, achievable and worth to work on. As an example, I will put here a career goal of earning more than last year, at least $20K more than this year.
Let me break it down for you:
How I can do it ? By creating a plan and honest research of what I should improve.
What will be an outcome-producing tactical move?
How can I achieve my goal? By being mindful of what kind of clients I choose.
How do I spend my time building the company?
What is my timeframe?
What needs to be done in my surroundings to help me achieving my goals?
Is it possible to achieve my goal in the system that I am part of?
What I do better than others?
Should I perhaps change something?
And now let’s deep dive into it one by one.
1 System
All of us are part of some system and we need to be at least partially aligned with it.
Being aware of how the system works, what needs system has will help us greatly to define where we fit it, what new we can bring, and how we can tell our story and sell our product.
If your business is E-com, specialising in nutraceutical sector, research of sales trends will be a good start.
What I do as competitors do, and what can be done differently?
What do people like?
How I can stand out ?
Should I convey a survey?
Such questions will bring you to the right path to achieve higher sales.
You need to understand where you are and where you want to be. Asking relentless questions will give you clarity and this will embrace your ability with decision making
2 Client
Who are my clients?
What do they like?
How they change?
Where do they gather?
How do they choose products?
What ‘s their age?
gender?
Continent/country?
Do you have good clients which help you grow?
How do they look? How they dress?
What are they like?
What do they need?
All of that will give you a better picture about your pool of clients and which one is worth to keep, and which ones are not worthy your time anymore.
Now you need to understand what can be changed to achieve your goal? Perhaps a new pool of clients? Better marketing? Maybe you have too many competitors?
Maybe sales funnel? Maybe changing product-market Fit ? What about trying to make yourself the only option that matters in front of them with a product which they need, and are willing to pay for?
3 Time
What is your timeframe to achieve your goal?
Is it realistic?
Do you have seasonality in your business which should be included in these tactics?
How can you adapt to seasons?
How can you combine system, client and time together?
What can be changed within first the few days?
Few months? 6 months?
What should be removed from the old system to make time and space for a new one?
What to do now?
Adaptability, boundaries, frames, thinking inside and outside of the box and good reporting is what creates a good strategy (end, long-term goal).
In the meantime, a global pandemic or crisis can happen, crash on the market but this what a strategic person does differently is adaptability and risk management.
Nowadays with so many distractions, sticking to the goal seems to be extremely difficult as different tools try to tell us to change an end goal completely, show shortcuts which don’t exist, sell hope and illusions.
Art of being strategic is to distinguish what is real and what is not.
Which tools are worth using and which ones are distractions.
Detours are part of the road and if we’ve learned something it wasn’t a waste of time.
What distinguishes a strategic approach is not giving up the end-goal.
If you made a mistake, fell for a catchy shortcut that’s all right as far as you learned something and now you are ready to come back to the main road.
Strategic path is not a linear path.
Some days you can do few steps forward, some none, some few centimetres (or inches) and as far as you move forward all is fine.
Detours, and the rest are part of the road as the way how you achieve your goal will define you as a person.
Usually after achieving your goal we think about setting a new one and if you learned well from the first path you can apply these methods to any other goals in your life.
Every other process will be easier on you and your confidence will increase.
That’s why it is so important to remember that the way how we achieve our goals is way more important than the goal itself.
How we treat people, what we learned about ourselves, others, path etc. all matter.
We can always change tactics.
What works at the beginning of the way might not be so useful later.
The same with people, circumstances, time frames but also us.
Over time, our perception will change and we will see that achievement of the goal is the beginning of something far bigger what we haven’t seen at the beginning.
Adjusting to situations, being open in mind and heart, being critical towards yourself and others, that’s all what build us on the path.
I hope that now you will understand why strategic is such a complex adjective not only from linguistic point of view, but also from a philosophical and business view.
Are you looking for a reliable business partner who can show you how to be strategic,
how to find your own strategy to start a business,
to reconstruct a business, or expand?
Feel free to contact us.
We are always friendly and happy to connect with you.