Starting a business blind is a gamble that no one should take. Entrepreneurs spend a great amount of time, money and resources on building their business, and to make sure that all of this does not go to waste, it is vital that they follow a proper business strategy. Steven Rindner mentions that a well-researched and clearly defined business strategy can be quite effective in enabling a business to gain superior success, and help them to beat diverse types of odds that they may come across.
Business strategy is one of the aspects that can either make or break a company. A proper strategy is needed to guide a business towards improved performance and long-term success. Steven Rindner mentions that having a comprehensive and competent business strategy would help entrepreneurs to focus their efforts, unify their team in a single direction, as well as help in guiding them through tough business decisions. A strategic plan would require an entrepreneur to define their goal and mark the elements needed to achieve it.
Due to the lack of research and planning, many companies make hasty and ill-advised decisions that adversely impact their enterprise value. Hence, having a business strategy is crucial to make sure that a firm always stays on track towards success, and does not deviate. Here are a few tips for creating a good business strategy, as per Steven Rindner:
Develop a true vision: The term ‘vision’ by itself is quite abstract, and mean a variety of things to diverse people. Typically, a vision statement implied to a snapshot into the future. It featured insights on what an entrepreneur wishes their company to be, and articulates what success looks like in terms of market reach, loyal customers, sales volume and so on.
Define competitive advantage: The key essence of business lies in underlining how a company can provide unique value to its discerning customers. The market competition in just about every sector and industry is extremely high today. Hence, in such a scenario, it becomes vital for businesses to gain an edge over their competitors by providing something unique to their customers, whether it is in regards to their service offering, pricing model, delivery system or something else.
Identify the targets: One of the major barriers for business growth and development is poor targeting. Due to the absence of a specific target audience, companies end up suffering from unclear messaging, as well as misalignment between sales and marketing. Defining niches and specialties would be quite helpful for companies to reap greater revenues by spending fewer resources. Clear target markets allow companies to develop an integrated sales and marketing approach, which ultimately boosts their revenue prospects.
A business strategy should largely be focused on growth. It must identify in which segments a company will grow and in what proportion, so that its outcome yields the desired net margin result.