Every business, no matter how big or small, irrespective of the industry it belongs to, requires a strategy that outlines its shared vision and objectives. That said, building a power-packed business strategy is an absolute necessity to ensure organizational growth and stability. But even after so much hype about the importance of a business strategy framework, many executives and business heads still struggle to create effective and progressive strategies which often cause a setback in their careers.
If you’re an executive, a leader, or a CEO, you must have been asked to formulate a business plan or strategy. We have found a way to measure the effectiveness of your business plan.
What’s that?
If your business strategy gives answers to these five WHAT’S, it’s a green flag to proceed with it! Check them out.
Ask these 5 WHATs of Your B-Plan
1. WHAT is the prime challenge that our business is facing? And how are we going to solve it?
Before starting up with strategy formulation, you must have a clear picture of your business’ current state. This can be done by examining the blind spots and addressing the challenges and opportunities that your business is coming across. Prioritizing the prime problem or challenge that your business needs to solve may seem obvious to you but doing so the right way by communicating with your entire team can take you to the right question.
The reason why defining the problem/challenge is crucial because if you don’t analyze the cause of the problem, you’ll only be solving the symptoms. And that will result in the formulation of an ineffective business strategy that will be unable to solve the real business issues.
2. WHAT is the central objective of our business?
Moving forward, the strategy must be aligned with the business objectives to keep everybody working toward the same goal while everyone contributes their part to the bigger picture. When creating a strategic plan, considering and including your organization’s biggest goal is crucial. Your business plan will only work when the defined business goal is achievable and measurable. Once you know what your business wants to achieve, creating the pathway becomes simple.
3. WHAT resources do we need to fulfill the objective?
Now that you know where your business stands, where it needs to reach, and what will be its direction, the next step is to allocate the right resources that will map out the path for your business.
These resources include the skills, employees, and leadership qualities that will work together to accomplish the organizational goal via defined objectives. Ensure that the capabilities of your executives and leaders correlated directly with your organization’s goal. Look into your existing workforce and see if: Will X employee be able to work across this area of activity?
For each key area where your business needs to work to achieve the prime goal, your strategy must include the right talent.
4. WHAT policies will lead us to the objective?
Once you’re done with examining the existing capabilities of your organization, the next question to answer is – how can you most efficiently build your strategic toolkit by using the resources you’ve? For starters, you can:
- Examine the business environment and identify your competition in the industry. Shape a blueprint to beat your competitors.
- Discover the segments of the market that will be benefited most from your business.
- Conduct market research to gain a deeper understanding of competitive, economic, and consumer dynamics. This will help you efficiently reach out to your target audience.
- Figure out the competencies required to beat your competition.
- Determine the moves to maintain a competitive edge.
5. WHAT will be the course of action?
This is the point where all your efforts in developing a strategy will either fail or succeed. The course of action is the basic roadmap which is interconnected through functional plans. Breaking down your strategy process into sub-parts – actions, tactics, and goals – that are divided across different functional teams.
Parting Words…
An effective strategy is the same as a map. A map shows the real world on a small scale that easily guides you from one location to another through an organized information system. A well-oriented business plan or strategy is no different. It’s a roadmap of your organization’s vision. A strategy lights an organization’s path by connecting the dots of feasibilities, practicalities, and opportunities.
