Starting a business is the crest of entrepreneurship. The ultimate goal of every small business owner, as it is with a pregnant woman, is to grow their business to maturity, and probably make it worth a lot. Most people go into business with a lot of hope and enthusiasm; but with time, are often met by challenges that ultimately make or mar the business. One of such is Strategy

The challenge: Strategy is one important aspect of running a business that most small business owners shy away from. Actually, most small business owners know little to nothing in terms of strategy. A strategy is a long-term plan that you create for your company to reach the desired, future state you envision. A strategy includes your company’s goals and objectives, the type of products/services that you plan to build, the customers who you want to sell to and the markets that you serve to make profits.

The Solution: For a new entrant SME to succeed in its chosen market, it must create and execute a sound strategy that puts into consideration a lot of variables, especially factors as explained by Porter’s five forces.

At this stage, it is better to call in the experts than try to play smart and be penny wise but pound foolish. This is not the time for experimentation. It is, instead, the time to set standards and baselines that work. You need to revisit your mission and vision statements, break them into SMART goals, and get them aligned with your capabilities and realities. After all, what’s a vision statement if you do not align it with your realities.

Once you set your baselines with the right documentation and processes in place, your business would be better placed, and most likely be on a trajectory for success.