Jamesons blog

Business strategy - identify the steps you need to take to achieve your objectives

Having identified where you are and with a clear vision in mind, you need to make sure that you identify the areas of strategic focus that need to be addressed for you to achieve the goals you have set your business. In simple terms this is a matter of seeing what key factors affect your business and are the key to its success.

In most businesses, these will be areas such as staffing, customer base, information technology and products/services. However, there may be other areas that can hold back your business if not addressed and so these should be included.

Having identified the areas for strategic focus, it is then a matter of reviewing each in detail and seeing what needs to be done to align each one with the overall vision. For example, if the current staff structure does not fit the intended vision, then it needs to be changed. Not always easy with employment legislation and particularly if the person does a great job, but just doesn't fit the new plan. But think about retraining or other roles that they can fill.

If its growth that you need, decide whether its via organic means, in which case promoting the business will be a key factor, or by acquisition, in which case funding and systems of control will be important.

If your current products or services are not able to take you where you want to go, then you will need to spend time looking at what customers will want in the future. You may need to look at the way people buy and for many people that means considering online sales.

Whatever you decide are the areas to focus on, keep your vision in mind and if an idea doesn't fit the vision of where you want to be, then discard it and think again. You will be surprised at how inventive you can be.

Simon Garner