Business Strategy Part 1: Business Strategy - Its Elements & Essence
by Eileen Ashmore, MBA
of E.M. ASHMORE & ASSOCIATES INC.
As you work through your business planning process, it may be helpful to review the elements and essence of your business strategy to ensure that your Business Plan is based on a business strategy that is robust enough to move your firm forward. The elements of business strategy are simple and a good business strategy is founded upon how you are:
- Communicating your vision, mission and intent
- Communicating your shared values
- Sustaining and growing
- Differentiating to gain competitive advantage
- Gaining customer top of mind through branding
- Following through on goals and objectives
- Correcting for obstacles and opportunities as they arise, and
- Tracking for results to ensure that you are sustaining and growing as per your end goals.
What is complex about drafting business strategy is ensuring for the alignment of each element with each other element. By aligning the elements, you will eliminate confusion and uncertainty.
Now, what about the essence of your business strategy? When you step back and review all of these elements, you'll find that the essence of your firm's business strategy can be summarized in a short phrase or sentence. Can you do this right now? If you can't, it may be time for you re-think your business strategy.
What simple phrase will give power to motivate you and your team, and, power to draw customers to your firm? Do you lead with Service or Quality or Price as per Tom Peter's advice? Is it working? If yes, GREAT! If not, why not?
To summarize, the elements and essence of your business strategy are simplistic in nature but they are founded upon complex strategic thinking. By communicating the essence of your business strategy in a short phrase, you will focus your company with a focused, united and motivated battle cry. Sun Tse said it best when he said "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before the defeat." Circa 500 BC.Why Marketing Strategy & Planning?
[Next newsletter – Part 2: Where's the 'Power' in Your Business Strategy?]
by Eileen Ashmore, MBA
of E.M. ASHMORE & ASSOCIATES INC.
www.ashmore-assoc.com
(403)252-0799.
Eileen Ashmore, MBA, provides a FREE 1 hour consultation
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