Is strategy important for a small business? YES. It is critical to the growth of your small business. If you don’t focus on your strategy for your business, then you will be like a boat without a captain and be blown every which way by the business winds that come your way.
What is a strategic thinking?
Strategic thinking is considering your goals and vision for the future of your business. You use your creativity to look at your business and make decisions on how you will move forward. It is about working on your business by looking at market trends and trends within your business, planning, strategizing and adjusting the course should the need arise. Because we don’t have a magic crystal ball, there is risk involved in strategic thinking and we need to evaluate it when we make strategic decisions. You can use strategic thinking for small everyday issues as well as for grand plans for your business.
How do you think strategically?
1. Make time to think
This time is critical for the growth of your business and it will also influence how you make decisions in the day-to-day running of your business. Therefore, it is important to make an appointment with yourself weekly or daily to think strategically about your business. You should dedicate at least 20 minutes to these strategy sessions. You should also consider doing these session first thing in the morning before you even opened your emails for the day. Yes, the very first action of your day.
2. Describe your vision
You need to know what your ideal business looks like. Why are you in business? What are you values? Who are your customers? What makes you unique compared to your competitors? By making objectives which align with the answers to these questions you will be able to make plans which will make sense to your customers.
3. Review the trends
What trends do you have within your company? Are the negative or positive? If they are negative, what can you do to resolve them? How do you need to review procedures or policies to improve on the trends? What are the trends within your industry or country? How do they influence your business? What can you do to capitalize on the trends? These are all questions you can ask yourself when review the trends in and around your company.
4. Make an action plan
Now that you have a new strategy, it is important to implement it. What will you do to get you from where you are today to where you want to be? How long will it take? These are all important questions to consider when creating the business of your dream.
5. Plan for the unexpected
Because we live in an ever-moving world, we need to look at all the eventualities of situation. There are positive outcomes and negative outcomes. It is therefore imperative to plan for both situations when you consider a strategic plan.
By going through these steps you will get better and better at strategic thinking and be able to grow your business. Remember when you are thinking you are working on your business and it is just as important as working in your business so make the time to strategize about the future of your business.
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