For a business to thrive and continue blooming there must be in place effective and well-implemented business strategies. However – as many organisations find out – formulating winning business strategies is not particularly an easy task to achieve. Even when properly developed, deliberate and effective implementation is quite challenging to so many organisations.
Often than not, businesses need help from external resources, mostly in form of strategy consultants to help them navigate the often complex paths of developing and implementing strategies that work.
Good strategy consultants understand what strategic plans are, and how to channel them for business growth, strong financial performances, strong competitive positioning and other non-quantifiable business successes. They deploy simple but uniquely effective strategy-crafting methodologies to assist businesses develop cutting-edge strategies that ensure that their clients attain their business goals and stay ahead of the competition. More than this, they hand-hold their clients to implement the strategies – keeping them constantly focused, continually energized and deliberately improving. They help organisations:
- to clarify the journey to business strategy development
- guide them to ask the right questions and find the right answers
- support to identify the threats and opportunities existing within and around business, and help organisational leaders to put them in proper and valuable perspectives
- help to develop action plans to consolidate strengths, improve on weaknesses and optimally manage your risks
The process of achieving the above usually takes four dimensions. Those dimensions are referred to in this blog as the 4 dimensions of business strategy consultancy.
The 4 Dimensions
- Strategic Framework Development
- Strategy Implementation Consultancy
- Market Research and Industry/Competitor Analysis
- Strategic Retreats Management
- Strategic Framework Development
Strategies drive businesses – to ensure success. Therefore thorough professional diligence must be applied to develop a framework that properly aligns their business’ vision with strategies and then properly translate them to actionable plans.
Such strategic framework development must encompass:
- Crafting and articulation of realistic vision for the business
- Articulation of the mission statement
- Development of values that resonate with the vision and mission of the business
- Development of winning strategies
- Development of goals and action plans to actualize the vision
- Strategy Implementation
Developing the right strategies is never enough. The worth of a well-developed strategy is in its proper implementation. Hence, after development of the strategy, businesses must ensure that the developed strategies are well implemented and the intended benefits of the strategies are fully realised. This is where many companies, especially SMEs will require the help of a professional firm to guide them in the journey of implementation.
Bear in mind, reviews and changes may be necessary in the course of implementation. Such changes should be carefully made bearing in mind the main objectives of the strategy.
- Market Research and Industry/Competitor Analysis
Whether for strategic purposes or for short to medium term operational planning and decision-making, insightful data help organisations position advantageously against competition.
Through strategic research, successful businesses understand better the prevailing markets, predict future trends and provide insights into the activities and plans of the competitors.
- Strategic Retreats Management
Retreats require substantial investment of money, time and efforts. Be it team building retreats or management/strategic retreats, effective planning and coordination is required to achieve the objectives. Often, the skills and experience required for this may not available in-house. Engaging a professional firm like Teoaris Consulting to anchor these highly important events often makes an incredible difference.
Effective coordination and management of strategic retreats enhances a success and the realization of expected return on investment. Such coordination would include:
- Effective articulation of the objectives (what does success mean)
- Setting the proper themes and ideas
- Generating winning ideas
- Professional coordination of the sessions
- Moderating views and ideas
- Scribing & execution support
In conclusion, a business that wants to be secured, well preserved and thrive would need to incorporate the attainment of the above four dimensions in their plans.
