A business strategy isn’t just a nice to have, it’s a crucial document that every growing business needs.
As a busy entrepreneur, it’s easy to focus on the day-to-day demands of your business and push strategy to the back-burner.
Entering into a new year is the ideal time to revisit your existing business strategy, it’s a good way to set the tone for the next 12 months. You can update it at any point though, for example if you’re pivoting.
Our full guide on how to update your business strategy is available to download now.
If you want a sample of what’s inside first, here’s a top-level overview…
Why should you revisit your business strategy?
Reviewing your business strategy is a way to check that the goals you set still feel relevant, and therefore that your actions and decisions are making an impact in the right areas.
It’s also good to keep everyone in your company updated on:
- What’s going on in your business (good and bad)
- How you’re going to improve
- The plan for the year
- Your values
This is important for transparency, and helps to keep your team members motivated towards a common goal.
Tip 1: Start by reflecting
The longer you’re in business, the more data you have at your disposal ready for you to reflect on. You’ll have learned many lessons and you’ll know what works well.
Reflection is important for your mindset as it’s an opportunity to recognise how far you’ve come, what works well and what doesn’t.
Looking back will help you move forward.
Tip 2: Don’t reflect on your own
Host a session with your team and reflect together. If you want everyone to be on board, you need to involve them with your business overall.
Don’t be afraid to be transparent and honest, it’ll help your team trust you and overall it’ll build stronger relationships.
Tip 3: Complete a financial forecast
Financial forecasts give you important insights that you can use to make informed decisions about processes, expenses, hiring and sales.
The more you forecast, the more you can prepare for the unexpected, as you’ll know when
Tip 4: Review your business plan
Your business is growing and changing every day, so there’s every chance your business plan is outdated.
Revisit your plan and ask yourself what your business vision is. It should be a vision that motivates, guides and underpins everything that you do.
Tip 5: Set realistic goals
Start small with your goals. If they’re too broad or unrealistic, they’ll quickly become demotivating.
Break your goals down into more achievable milestones and focus on becoming 1% better every day. Highlight one thing that you think you can do better, and set a goal that will allow you to do it better.
Download our free guide
To help you further, we’ve created a free downloadable guide on creating a business strategy that’ll get buy in from your whole team.
You can access it here.
If you’re keen to learn more about our work or would like our support in 2024, get in touch to book a call.
