Review of Mid-Year Business Strategy

 

We've just started a new fiscal year as I write, and I'm wondering if you and your company's leadership team might be inspired to revisit strategic plans made at the start of the calendar year? I believe you will benefit from reviewing the Key Performance Indicators associated with the strategies you have chosen to implement, so that successes can be recognised and mid-course corrections can be made as necessary.

Strategic planning is required to create and sustain business success. Creating and implementing plans for your organisation encourages the leadership team to reconsider the venture's purpose—-its vision and mission, goals, guiding principles (culture and values), and business model—-and evaluate how that purpose is reflected in the products and services sold to customers. The six strategic planning and positioning principles outlined below will assist you in creating the conditions for success at your business.Principle 1: Long-term profitability

Profitable conditions are created when customers value your products or services enough to pay more than what it costs the company (you) to produce and deliver them. Strategic planning provides you with the opportunity to define business goals and objectives, as well as develop strategies and action plans with both short and long-term ROI in mind. Assuming that profits are unavoidable if sales volume and market share are the only measures of success may be deceptive.Value proposition is the second principle.

Make sure that what company leaders consider to be the value proposition—-that is, the most desirable benefits—-is the same as what target customers consider to be the value proposition. Don't try to create and sell products and services that you expect to be all things to all people. A company requires strategies that allow it to compete in a way that allows it to effectively and efficiently deliver what its most loyal customers perceive to be valuable.

Competitive advantage is the third principle.

Those highly desirable benefits that keep the value proposition alive must be reflected in and supported by strategies that shape them into long-term competitive advantages. The successful business will distinguish itself from competitors not only by the products or services offered, but also by how those products or services are packaged and/or delivered, customer service practises, pricing, branding, and so on. These distinguishing characteristics and practises will be important to current and prospective customers. Nonetheless, the company's business model may be similar to that of its competitors.

Choices and priorities are the fourth principle.

Resources are always limited, so decisions about your products and/or services must be made in order to understand what is necessary, possible, and thus a priority. Some product or service features will be eliminated in order to maximise the benefits (priorities) that clients have identified as highly desirable. These priorities are what distinguishes the company from competitors and defines the brand.

Flow is the fifth principle.

To improve and enable consistent delivery of the value proposition, choices and priorities must be baked into the strategies that the leadership team employs. These strategies, like dominoes, will be both stand-alone and interdependent. For example, deciding to pursue certain target customers while ignoring others will have an impact on product design and development.by extension will also impact the manufacturing process, manufacturing location and cost.

Choices about what will and will not be included in a service will be influenced by the most loyal customers, and this will have an impact on how that service is delivered and priced. Product positioning and branding decisions will have an impact on the marketing strategy, which will have an impact on the advertising media outlets chosen and the social media platforms used.

Direction is a sixth principle. Diana Vreeland, the late Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Magazine from 1963 to 1971, once stated that "elegance is refusal." A company must define its unique value proposition, which will eventually lead to the rejection of certain potential choices because they are in conflict with the brand. Product or service lines can be changed over time to meet customer demands, and business models can be modified to reflect current or anticipated market conditions. However, in order to maintain brand awareness and trust, the vision and mission must be upheld. That process will be guided by strategic direction.