Some organizations seem to operate without a business strategy, while others have way too many. We have guided many of our clients to focus on a half dozen, specifically:

1. Focus on profitable growth. Seems pretty basic, but it’s amazing how many companies experience declining profits, while their businesses are actually growing!
2. Start with the market and work backwards. It’s easy to fall in love with our own products/ services, and then get frustrated when customers don’t share our same enthusiasm. We need to meet the needs of the changing market…not vice versa.
3. Get everyone on the same page. In most companies, only a handful of employees truly understand their business—what a terrible waste of talent!
4. Leverage a simple Mission, Vision and set of Values. The secret here is to intelligently engage employees in creating these, while, at the same time, keeping the process simple. M/V& V should fit on the back of a business card.
5. Choose an unmatched value proposition. Companies should familiarize themselves with the key customer value propositions: Operational Excellence, Customer Intimacy and Product Leadership; then select one dominant value proposition, while giving appropriate attention to the other one or two.
6. Work smart; Focus on the vital few. 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. We can never get everything done, so it’s far better to concentrate on those vital few areas which will propel us forward.  

{ 0 comments }