Are you looking to have a strategic breakthrough in your business this year?
If your answer is YES, then you will get a lot of value from what I share with you in this blog post.
In this post, I will focus on the importance of ‘strategy’, and a basic framework for running your business.
Strategy sessions can solve problems, as well as spark ideas and innovation that lead to business success. At its core, these sessions are about making decisions that position your business for success. Making decisions is hard work, and it doesn’t typically fit in with all the other work on your to-do lists that you make daily.
I’ve learned in the work that I do helping entrepreneurs create their business strategy, that too few business owners have a clear and compelling one in place. Many are stuck in a vicious cycle of marketing without the desired results.
What they have posing as ‘strategy’ is some sort of idea that is often broken into ineffective subsections that focus on plans and tactics. It’s no surprise that they struggle to define what strategy is and why they’re most likely not setting the much-needed time aside to discover key strategic insights about their business.
When you get stuck writing emails or trying a laundry list of marketing suggestions you’ve read online rather than spending time in a strategy session, you’re slowly killing your business – and your dreams.
Strategy helps you bring about the intellectualization of your business. A strategy is a linchpin for how you think about doing business.
Before I discuss how a Business Strategy Sessions can help you, let’s discuss some basic definitions.
The definition of ‘Strategy’
Strategy is not about planning. I’ll say it again – STRATEGY IS NOT ABOUT PLANNING!
Strategy is the creation of an integrated set of choices that collectively position your business within its industry so as to create sustainable advantage relative to your competition and deliver superior financial returns. (Harvard Business Review, Martin, “Don’t let Strategy Become Planning”, 2013)
Let’s look at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute for example. When compared to a local hospital, that typically focuses on providing good service for its clients, we can see how Roswell Park is significantly different. Their focus is on “…eliminating cancer’s grip on humanity by unlocking its secrets through personalized approaches and unleashing the healing power of hope.” Much like Roswell Park, the heart of your strategy must be to be the absolute best and provide something better than simply ‘good service’.
To help with clarity, here’s a framework for strategy, which I use during strategy sessions with my clients. It’s important to incorporate aspirational goals, determine how and where to operate, identify what makes you the best in your field, your unique capabilities, and systems.
What is a Strategy Session?
A strategy session is often thought of as time set aside for planning, which includes a long list of assigned activities, to-do lists with timeframes and resources. Some believe this is where a businesses’ vision is created, or best practices are developed. Even more confusing, at least to me, are the action-items often mislabeled as “strategies”.
Most of these falsely labeled strategy sessions are reactive in nature and do nothing to incorporate how your business will succeed.
A strategy session is where you make decisions on how you will SUCCEED while taking into account each step of the strategy framework mentioned above.
Now what is a “Crystal Clear” Strategy Session?
My intent is to provide you with guidance in helping you create your business strategy and empower you to be able to make the hard (but necessary) choices for your organization in order for it to succeed.
No strategy, even the best one, last forever. You will need to implement regular sessions into your business practice so you can continue to evolve, improve, stay competitive, and ultimately achieve your aspirations, which should change too. You need to see strategy sessions as an on-going process rather than a one-time result.
Think of a strategy session as a necessary investment in your business. If you have competent and professional guidance that follows a proven framework, you will be able to maximize the efficiency and momentum required to achieve the success you desire.
Cheers to making it ‘Crystal Clear’!
P.S. Many of you think that in order to grow your business, you have to work harder and harder (not smarter) to bring customers to your door. Working hard is great, but it is just part of the formula. Take advantage of the 60% off I am offering for a 30-minute Business Strategy Session this week in celebration of Memorial Day. I have set aside some time this week to have 1-on-1 strategy sessions with you to help you discover your business’ strategy. For only $99 we will begin a framework for your businesses success!!! Limited spots available.
www.Calendly.com/CrystalClearEsq