I’ve had the chance to help over 60 Vistage members create effective business strategies for their companies.
A few years ago, I worked with the leadership team of a member who was thinking about how the company should grow. Many members of the sales team believed the best path was to expand into new locations. This opinion was based mostly on instinct.
After working with the CFO to build a financial model, we showed that the company would actually be more successful by focusing on its current markets—just with a slightly different approach and message. In this case, thoughtful planning, research, and insight were more useful than a simple guess.
Wanting things to be simple shouldn’t come at the cost of doing a full and careful analysis, especially when your company’s future is on the line.
Without research and planning, many companies make rushed decisions that end up hurting the overall value of their business. The desire to keep things simple should not replace the need for deep thinking and planning.
Today, many CEOs are busy, tired, and low on time. Because of that, they often rely on basic strategy templates that seem easy to use. But those templates can lead to poor thinking and weak business strategies. What you end up with may look more like a short-term operations plan than a real long-term strategy.
Vistage members are putting more attention on execution, and that’s important. Making the wrong hire or starting a major project like ERP without a solid strategy can be expensive.
Creating a business strategy—or even thinking about your company’s future—can’t be done in a quick meeting. Too often, strategic planning is confused with simple tools like a SWOT analysis. People attend long meetings and leave with vague ideas, like “go global,” but no real research or understanding behind those choices. Then when the ideas fail, they blame the strategy.
What is a business strategy?
A business strategy is a step-by-step plan that explains your goals and how to reach them. This plan should be shared across your company so that everyone is working toward the same result.
10 Steps to Build and Carry Out a Business Strategy
These 10 steps can help you build a better business strategy and make sure it gets done the right way:
Understanding Business-Level Strategies
Before you create your strategy, you need to understand what business-level strategies are. These are approaches a company uses to compete in its market. They help you focus on your customers, stand out from your competition, and reach your business goals. Some common approaches include:
- Differentiation: Offer unique products or services that clearly stand out from the rest.
- Cost Leadership: Keep prices competitive by cutting costs without lowering quality.
- Market Focus: Target a specific group of customers and meet their needs better than others.
These approaches help build a strong foundation for long-term success.
1. Develop a Clear Vision
A vision should show what kind of company you want to be in the future. Unlike a mission statement, a vision describes success in clear terms—your customers, your market, and your impact.
To make the vision useful, turn it into SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-bound. These goals help every team know exactly what they need to do.
Example:
Don’t just say “expand globally.” Instead, say: “Enter two new markets in Q3 and reach $1 million in sales by year-end.”
2. Define Your Competitive Advantage
A business strategy should clearly show how you give customers something different and better. Many businesses offer the same thing. Your strategy should find ways to stand out—whether it’s your pricing, customer service, delivery, or how your product works.
3. Define Your Target Market
One major challenge in building a strategy is not having a clear target. Without this, your message and your marketing can be off track. By defining your niche or specialty, you can focus your time and money more wisely.
A clear target helps both sales and marketing work together. This makes your strategy easier to carry out.
4. Focus on Steady, Organized Growth
Growth helps your company afford new technology, better talent, and improved equipment. Your strategy should show which areas you plan to grow and how that growth will affect your overall financial results.
Once you know your growth plan, you can plan spending on things like equipment and hiring with more confidence.
5. Make Decisions Based on Facts
Without good data, even the best-looking strategy will fail. Many leaders say they don’t have enough data, but there’s often helpful information available.
For example, one member we worked with wanted to understand different customer groups. We found helpful data in public port records that showed actual shipments. This gave the company the facts it needed to shape its strategy.
6. Create a Long-Term Plan
While the business world changes quickly, only thinking short-term can limit your future. The best companies treat strategy as something they do every year—not just once.
Planning regularly helps you see future risks and take steps before problems arise.
7. Keep Your Strategy Flexible
Even long-term plans need to adapt. Part of your strategy should be about watching outside trends and being ready to shift when needed. Meet often—like every quarter—to check if your plan still fits your goals.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, for example, meets with his leadership team every week to stay focused on strategy.
8. Include the Right People in Planning
To stay flexible and up to date, more companies are including a wider mix of people in their planning—especially as more young professionals join the team. This doesn’t mean you need to open your books, but transparency and inclusion can lead to better ideas.
Bring in people who think clearly and understand the business.
9. Ask Teams to Prepare
If you want your team to take planning seriously, ask them to come prepared. They should research ahead of time and bring helpful insights to strategy meetings. This sets the right tone and raises the quality of discussion.
10. Track Your Progress and Execute Well
Your strategy should lead to action. Top companies:
- Use a written action plan they review often—at least monthly.
- Make sure everyone feels responsible for the plan.
- Use KPIs (key performance indicators) that match the strategy.
- Set goals that connect to every department and make sure employees understand how their work helps the company grow.
- Set a calendar that includes important meetings and check-ins.
- Create a cycle that repeats strategy planning every year.
What to Know About Creating a Strong Business Strategy
A solid strategy positions your company to lead in your market. Here’s what to include when writing your strategy:
How to Write a Business Strategy
Start with these six steps:
- Review your company’s mission and vision.
- List your core values.
- Do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats).
- Write down clear actions that will help you meet your goals.
- Plan how to use your resources.
- Measure your progress and check if your strategy is working.
Staying focused and disciplined is key. Business leaders must set the tone and keep their teams focused on the long-term goal.
