The Business Case for Strategy

Every businesses start with an idea.

If the business develops like most businesses, that idea is captured in a mission statement, which explains the businesses purpose or why it exists.

Next comes a vision statement, which outlines where the business sees itself in the future – assuming it’s successful in accomplishing its mission.

Then often comes a values statement, which defines how employees are expected to treat other employees, customers, suppliers, partners, indeed, everyone the business comes in contact with.

Then comes strategy.

Strategy is the culmination of everything that comes before (mission, vision, and values) and everything that comes afterwards – goals, objectives, an action plan and key performance indicators (KPIs) or measures of success. These are the basic building blocks of every successful business.

As such, developing a strategy requires careful consideration. There are plenty of businesses that don’t get strategy right their first time. Other businesses struggle to communicate their strategy, internally and externally. In fact, studies have shown that upwards of 95% of employees were unaware or did not understand their company’s strategy and that between 80-90% of corporate strategies failed.

For such a key building block in the evolution of a company, you would think business leaders would do better.

Having a strategy doesn’t automatically guarantee success, but it’s the rare business that succeeds without one. A strategy is essentially a hedge against uncertainty, where having even a simple plan is often better than no plan at all. The greater the uncertainty about the future – and most business leaders today are less certain about the future than ever before – the greater the need there is for a clear, comprehensive strategy.

Benefits of a strategy

The primary benefit of having a business strategy is to have a “framework for decision making” that provides guidance for everyone in the organization. Strategy is as much about what to do as what not to do. As mentioned earlier, without that framework, businesses are more likely to run in too many different directions, accomplish little and squander precious resources.

In addition to guiding decisions and providing direction, a strategy helps establish priorities so that your precious, limited resource are allocated properly.

A sound strategy will also define clear lines of accountability and timelines for achieving results. Simply put, it helps you know how you’re performing.

Finally, because it’s informed by an overarching mission, vision, and values –  and informs your goals, objectives, and KPIs – a strategy increases alignment across all business activities and fosters greater commitment at all levels.

In short, strategy provides more:

• Focus
• Clarity
• Profit and margins
• Lower costs
• Better decisions
• Flexibility
• Speed
• Integration
• Growth
• A whole host of other tangible and intangible business benefits…

And less risk.

Summary: Strategy is a key building block for any successful business. While there are plenty of management tools that will help you build a more efficient business, only strategy can help you build a more effective one. The same holds true for your event.