Building A Strong Business Founded On Strategy
Most SME’s , CBO’s and NGO’s only think of developing a strategic plan only when they have been forced to develop one by financiers, donors and other external partners as a condition of financing.
Without realizing the importance they quickly but blindly comply so as not to be offensive.
Immediately the strategic plan document becomes just another document gathering dust on their shelves.
It is said in the good book that a house without vision perishes
A well developed and executed strategic plan acts as a powerful transformative tool to any organization. It gives a snapshot of the general direction and the veracity of coping mechanism of an organization for the middle to long term.
Let us therefore look at very simple steps for Formulating and implementing effective Strategy.
1-Take a long look outside your organization in the hope of identifying potential threat and opportunities.
There are always threats in an organizational external environment such as the threat of new entrants, competitors, substitute products and so forth.
An organization needs to take stock of such threat and craft ways of managing or countering.
Likewise the same external holds great potential opportunities for organizations waiting to be discovered. Opportunities come in different forms; it could be an un-served market, exit of a competitor, change in trends and taste in your favor etc.
2-Take another long look inside your organization
Take stock of what resources and capabilities your organization posses. This will inform the choice of strategy you will consider in order to take advantage of the available opportunities.
This is very critical for Micro and SME’s and Community based Organizations who have very little resources in terms of manpower and assets.
A great strategy can only succeed only if it is matched with appropriate resources.
3-Develop strategies for tackling the threats and opportunities
It is worth noting that most micro and SME’s face a tirade of opportunities and threats. It is therefore wise to prioritize the threats and opportunities into short, medium and long term and tackle them systematically as the organization grows.
When developing strategies ensure you come up with as many solutions as possible off course based on research and solid facts and not assumptions
4-Ensure you build a good fit among the choice of strategy and supporting activities.
The strategies that you have developed do not work in isolation.
Review and align all proposed activities and processes to ensure they work in concert for the good of the entire organization.
5-Develop alignment and Implement
Usually strategy is developed by top management.
At this point top management must sit with the entire staff and discuss the implication of the strategy to the day to day activities of the organization.
In essence any strategy needs to be broken down into simple tasks and activities and duty assigned to employees at all levels.
Always remember that a strategic plan is not cast in stone, be on the lookout, recognize areas of improvement during implementation and take corrective action. Remember to enjoy yourself in the process