110 CHAPTER 6 THE CORE OF YOUR PLAN
What is strategy?
There seems to be confusion about the definition of strategy. Some business books tell
you that strategies relate to issues that are important, long-term or high-priority. What
do you think? I take the view that strategy is a route map. It shows you where you want to
be and how you intend to get there – but it does not tell you how to drive or how to deal
with all the little hassles that you meet along the way. This is covered in your tactical (or
operating) plan.
Strategy is every bit as important for the short term as for the longer term. It should
drive you through short-term buffeting and on towards your objectives as accurately as
possible. It should be documented so that it shows users of your plan how to react when
the outcome of some future event becomes known.
A STRATEGY IN ACTION
A new software company devised a strategy with the following steps.
The strategy did not tell the sales and marketing manager what to do or where to sell. But it
provided guidelines which, when supported with suitable feedback and monitoring, allowed
her to operate successfully in co-operation with the company’s software developers.
1 Customise a computer application for certain companies.
2 Monitor the success of sales in each of various market sectors.
3 Further tailor the application to suit the most successful markets.
4 Build a business unit serving one of those markets, say hospitals.
5 Sell the business unit to a larger company specialising in medical systems.
6 Repeat steps 4 and 5 in other industry areas.
Special mission – critical success factors
As you work through this chapter, your special mission is to identify and list your
critical success factors – the things that you have to get right to succeed. This will
make a valuable checklist that you can document in your business plan and use
later to help you maintain focus.
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