More Than One Way
January 23, 2012
By Cat Matson, catmatson.com
Like many business owners, I use the Christmas holidays to ‘re-think’ my business – take stock, review what worked and what didn’t in the previous year and make plans for the year ahead.
This year, I spent a lot of time thinking about what didn’t work in my business as distinct to what did. And when I looked at what didn’t work, it all came back to one common theme.
I tried to follow someone else’s system, or model, for business success.
I’ve written (or ranted) about this on my personal blog, where I talked about my resistance to being ‘fenced in’ by societal ‘titles’ – I’m not a consultant, coach, mentor or advisor… I’m a combination of all of those things… but the ‘system’ that says I need to have a strong, recognisable, ‘google-able’ title… well, it sent me in circles of despair and frustration for a lot of last year. Because that model doesn’t work for me.
Another system that I tried, despite my thoughts on it, were long-copy sales letters. Won’t. Do. It. Again.
My point is not to list all the things that didn’t work for me though.
My point is:
there is more than one way to build your business
I know you know that… in theory. But I also know that just like every other business owner I’ve ever met, you’re a seeker. A seeker of information, of ideas and better ways of doing things (if you weren’t, you wouldn’t be reading this blog). And being a seeker is fantastic!
The problem arises when our seeking moves from sparking ideas to wanting to ‘replicate’ someone else’s system, you know… “well if it worked for them, it should work for me too”.
Only if your circumstances, context, experience and business is identical to ‘theirs’.
In the age of information at our finger-tips and ‘gurus’ on every second webpage, magazine cover and conference stage, it can be very easy to be lulled into the trap of thinking there is a way, a recipe, a turn-key system for building your business. But for most of us, there’s not… there’s frameworks, generalised principles, there’s great ideas and inspiration… but how you make it work for you… well, that’s very much up to you.
So if you’ve ever beat yourself up for not being able to make a system or model work for you…
If you’re a learning junkie with a never-ending list of things to improve in your business or if you just sometimes feel like you’re the ‘only’ person who feels that none of the ‘systems’ or ‘models’ out there are ‘it’ for you, rest assured. You’re not alone.
There is definitely more than one way to do anything in business. And your way might well be the best.
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
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Cat Matson - catmatson.comCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes.
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Business: A Jigsaw Puzzle
November 8, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
When I was younger, my mum and I used to do jigsaw puzzles in the school holidays – you know the ones – thousands of pieces, where half of them are all the same shade of blue sky or green grass and over weeks, you piece together a few more until the final picture is revealed.
Business is not that different.
There are so many parts to put together… so many of those parts that actually look like they fit… they just don’t quite… Unlike boxed puzzles that you buy in the hobby shops, it’s often hard to get such a crystal-clear picture of your business, like you get on a puzzle box, to guide how you put it all together. And unlike the puzzles I used to do with my mum, there’s consequences if you settle for a ‘near-enough’ fit rather than a perfect fit – missed opportunities, lost sales, ineffective marketing and often just a feeling of things not quite working.
So how do you pull together your unique jigsaw puzzle?
- Recognise there are universal pieces to a business puzzle – a bit like placing the the corners and edge pieces first in a 2,500 piece picture puzzle. For example, each business needs to have a strong marketing framework, a profitable business model, an informative scoreboard and financial management system and effective and efficient process – they create the ‘edges’ of your business puzzle… how you colour it in will be different for each individual business.
- Understand that even though all the pieces may look the same (e.g., I often found it hard to distinguish between the shades of blue in the sky), there are always subtle differences between each piece. Don’t try and take pieces from your friends’ or competitors’ business puzzles… they might look like they’re a fit… but they won’t be a perfect fit.
- Recognise that not only is your business jigsaw not a static picture on a box, but a 3-dimensional inter-related system of pieces – a bit like cogs and wheels in a Swiss-watch. The pieces of your puzzle need to not only fit, but they need to inter-relate, integrate and synergise with each other to produce the lifestyle returns you went into business for.
- Accept that sometimes the final picture will change before you’ve got all the pieces in place, so you need to be flexible in finding new pieces that complete the picture; the edges and the frameworks are likely to remain constant.
- Remember, like jigsaw puzzles, building a business takes patience. Forcing a ‘fit’ might give you immediate gratification, but it will make the picture look weird in the end… so just keep moving pieces around until they all fit perfectly.
What do you think?
Does running your business feel like piecing together a giant jigsaw puzzle? Do you take the time to get the right pieces or are there a few ‘forced fits’ making an awkward picture?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
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Cat Matson - catmatson.comCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes.
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The Problem With Online Engagement
September 12, 2011
(or the Anatomy of an Online Engagement That Went Pear-Shaped)
By Cat Matson, Alito
I spend A LOT of my professional and personal time online. I tweet, Facebook, write blog posts and comment on blog posts. I love it… and for the majority of the time, I have a blast engaging, networking, exploring, collaborating, educating and being educated through online platforms.
There’s a catch though. Sometimes you can find yourself engaging in discussions that have nothing to do with your online strategic outcomes.
Sometimes in the online space, people take liberties they wouldn’t take if they were talking with you face to face (or even over the phone).
This isn’t a new topic… many before me (and no doubt after me) will write about online etiquette… and readers of this blog are savvy, classy and most importantly respectful. So this isn’t a post about such etiquette.
Rather, this post is about what happens when you are at the effect of an online trouble maker (also known as an online troll)… and the lessons I recently learned in dealing with just this situation.
By way of background, an anonymous commenter on my Alito blog left what I interpreted as inflammatory comments. After due consideration, I decided to delete the comments.
That was mistake (and learning) number 1.
In this case, the commenter escalated his comments, asking why I invalidated the comments by deleting them.
So I answered… and copied and pasted the original comments in full back into the blog.
That was possibly mistake (and learning) number 2.
In my answer, I also engaged with this anonymous commenter, attempting to answer his concerns/questions/challenges. Given his challenges were regarding my professional expertise, this was certainly mistake number 3. Because here I was having an argument, defending myself, with a faceless, nameless, anonymous commenter.
I engaged because I value robust discussion… and given the commenter’s persistence and assertion that he was reading my blog as a potential client. This engagement was a mistake because it was very easy for me to get just as inflammatory in my responses with someone who was anonymous – after all, I couldn’t visualise the person who may have feelings or sensibilities. I was responding to these comments from a position of wanting to defend my reputation… not a clean intention of discussion.
My further mistake was inviting further anonymous comments from this contributor. It meant the conversation has continued (with one other contributor adding their thoughts to the conversation) to more than 21 comments… 21 comments of argument, not discussion, about the original video post.
My takeaway learnings … that I wish to share:
- If you blog to raise your business profile – establish a code of conduct for your blog that commenters need to abide by. If they don’t, then there is a clear cause for deleting offending comments and not engaging. A Code of Conduct also gives you a clear guide for your own use when the stakes are high and judgement can be clouded.
- Regardless of your own desire to be professional and to deliver strong customer service, remember your own blog is just that – your own. As such, you choose who you engage with and how.
- Be less willing to fight. This commenter used my own phrases, like ‘robust conversation’ as bait to lure me into an online battle. The world of online opinion is just that – opinion. I don’t have to convince anyone of mine… and nor do I need to defend mine. I can just be OK with other people having, and even stating, different opinions… even on my own blog
- Be clear on the purpose of your blog. Mine is to share my ideas, my opinions and ‘speak’ with those who are interested in what I have to say. Of course, it is also to build my profile and to encourage people who like my approach to engage my services. It is NOT to convince people who don’t like what I do that they should engage my services.
Read point 4 again. For me… this has been a MASSIVE turning point.
The purpose of my blog is not to convince people who don’t like what I do that they should engage my services.
My blog is about expressing me, my approach, and what I can do for my clients. That approach, my personality, will resonate with some. Great, I hope those people stick around.
It won’t resonate with others. That’s ok. There’s other blogs that will.
Please don’t invest any time visiting the Alito blog post in question… chance are, by the time you’re reading this, I will have removed all comments anyway… it has left a bad taste in my mouth that I don’t want contaminating the good stuff that I think my blog is.
But I would love to hear your thoughts.
What are your ‘rules of engagement’ in the online space? Particularly for your own blog? Do you insist commenters on your own blog reveal their name, for example? And how do you ‘withdraw’ from an engagement that goes ‘pear-shaped’?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes. When not working, Cat enjoys time with her 2 young boys, her husband and exploring the ever-evolving possibilities of social media. She is a connection junkie – getting a buzz out of connections both on- and off-line and is often seen with iPhone to ear and iPad at fingertips.
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But It’s Not Fun Anymore
August 15, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
For most Business owners, the first few years of running their own show is fun. Yes, it’s a lot of hard work too… but there is an adrenalin rush to get you through the scary bits… and an underlying excitement in building something, selling something and gradually building a sustainable business.
But inevitably the honeymoon period ends… and that excitement becomes frustration, boredom and just plain disinterest. For a whole host of reasons, the fun stops… and running your own business can become plain hard work. And yes, there’s nothing wrong with hard work… but hey, it’s not what you wanted from your own business, right? If you were going to hate going to work, at least hate working for someone else… not yourself.
So how do you get the fun back?
First of all, recognise this is normal… and there is nothing wrong with you, or your business. As businesses mature, the complexity increases… often beyond the skill-set of the owner. So accepting the natural evolution of the business is the first step.
Second, reconnect with WHY you started the business in the first place. If the business is no longer serving your needs, figure out how it can again (tip: this is a good conversation to have with a coach or other objective outsider).
Third, re-evaluate HOW the business ‘does it’s thing.’ Often businesses evolve organically… not strategically… which can create unnecessary complication in terms of overheads, organisational structures and systems… which in turn creates a multitude of management headaches for the owner. Reviewing the business model, structures and systems knowing what you know now and re-aligning them to strategic objectives can make a huge difference.
Finally, take time out for you. As the business demands more of you, it is easy to fall into the trap of working longer and longer hours. We all know all work and no play makes for very dull Jack & Jills… and doing something that re-fuels you gives you perspective on your business challenges too.
If you’re not enjoying yourself anymore… stop… and take steps to find the fun again!
What tips do you have for making your business fun again? What works for you?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes. When not working, Cat enjoys time with her 2 young boys, her husband and exploring the ever-evolving possibilities of social media. She is a connection junkie – getting a buzz out of connections both on- and off-line and is often seen with iPhone to ear and iPad at fingertips.
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First Things First
July 19, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
Most business owners I meet know the things they need to do first… marketing, planning, coaching their staff, focussing on strategic matters.
But those same business owners struggle with getting to most… if not all… of those important, business-building activities. Why? Because they’re busy in the day-to-day ‘stuff’ of running their business.
In Stephen Covey’s classic, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, habit number 3 is First Things First (habits 1 and 2 are Be Proactive and Start with the End in Mind). And by First Things First, he means making sure those important, strategic matters get addressed FIRST… not ‘waiting’ until you have time to do them.
He has a great analogy of filling a jar with sand, small rocks and big rocks. If you start with the sand and the small rocks and then try to jam your big rocks in ‘on top’, they’ll never fit.
Instead, if you put the big rocks in first, then the small rocks and the sand… everything will fit – as the small stuff will fill in the spaces (visit my Facebook page to watch a video demonstration).
Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? But ask yourself, what do you fill your days, weeks and months with? Big rocks? Or the little stuff?
Don’t get me wrong… the ‘little stuff’, like phone calls, emails, customer emergencies might be ‘little’ in the rocks analogy… and they’re still important. But the problem is, if we don’t put the ‘big’ things in our lives first… well, honestly, it’s just way too easy for our time to be filled with the small rocks and sand of our lives.
So here’s my tip: At the start of each week (maybe even on a Sunday night), spend 30 minutes scheduling the ‘big rocks’ into your week. Make appointments with yourself and block those times out in your diary. And then keep the appointments. The other stuff will still get done – it will fit into the spaces around your big rocks.
So before you rush off to the next task on your to-do list… take a moment and check your diary… have you scheduled time for the ‘big rocks’?
Over to you: What other tips do you have for ensuring the ‘big rocks’ get done first?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes. When not working, Cat enjoys time with her 2 young boys, her husband and exploring the ever-evolving possibilities of social media. She is a connection junkie – getting a buzz out of connections both on- and off-line and is often seen with iPhone to ear and iPad at fingertips.
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The Waiting Place
May 23, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
In ‘Oh, The Places You’ll Go’, Dr. Seuss tells us with brains in our head and feet in our shoes, we can steer ourselves any direction we choose. And with that excitement and free will, comes the inevitable consequence that sometimes we’ll end in place of indecision and ‘slump’. And rather than make a decision, Seuss says …
“You can get so confused,
that you’ll start in to race…
…and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting”
I see Business Owners in The Waiting Place all the time. Waiting for the government to change, the economy to turn, that staff member to leave or the marketing to work. They wait for the latest IT platform, that next big special, they wait for their tax refund and they wait… waiting for the arrival of ‘perfect’ conditions… until they can wait no more. Seuss is right – the Waiting Place is a most useless place.
Successful Business Owners don’t hang out in The Waiting Place. They get on with it… appropriate to current conditions.
It is what it is, and it ain’t what it ain’t.
And waiting for it to be different is as effective as watching the storm clouds roll in and hoping it doesn’t rain.
Owning your own Business presents the ultimate opportunity to ‘OWN’ your reality. Sometimes it means tough decisions have to be made. Sometimes you need to try different things… many different things… before YOUR conditions change. But ‘waiting’ for the external conditions to change is a recipe for failure. The ONLY thing you really have control over is your OWN attitude and your OWN actions… and as a Business OWNer, choosing attitudes and actions that will get you closer to your goals is the only way to OWN the business you want.
So – What are you waiting for? I’ll kick the conversation off
For me, I’m waiting for a lot of things… being able to see in my mind the ‘perfect’ business model of an idea I’ve been working on forever before I even start with the 80% that I know works. I’m waiting for an appointment-free, distraction-free week to write my web-copy (with 2 young kids that’s unlikely to happen this decade)… I’m waiting to understand everything I need to understand about WordPress so I don’t have to rely on others… and I’m waiting for some imaginary person to give me permission. I’m waiting to lose 10 kgs so I ‘look the part’ and I’m waiting for everything to line up ‘perfectly’.
So over to you…
What are YOU waiting for? And what would be different if you stopped waiting?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
- Boldly Going Where Others Don’t
- Games Your Customers WANT You to Play
- Done! It’s time to get things finished and ‘shipped’.
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes. When not working, Cat enjoys time with her 2 young boys, her husband and exploring the ever-evolving possibilities of social media. She is a connection junkie – getting a buzz out of connections both on- and off-line and is often seen with iPhone to ear and iPad at fingertips.
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Boldly Going Where Others Don’t
April 27, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
I endured a remedial massage last week. And I mean endured. It was at times excruciating… where the best I could do was breathe through the pain of someone trying to take my pain away. At the end of the hour, the treatment had worked. The headache I had tolerated for two days was gone, movement had been restored to my neck and my back and shoulders felt the lightest they had felt in ages. The therapist had given me what I needed (a hard-core body work session which untied the knots in my back)… not what I wanted (a relaxing massage which would temporarily make me feel better). She boldly went where few other therapists go… she gave me what I needed and trusted her professional experience to make that decision.
As a business owner, do you give your customers or clients what they need… or what they want? Are you BOLD in your suggestions… or are you polite, agreeing to provide the solution that the customer thinks they want?
It’s not an easy task, to tell a customer what they need is different to what they want… but gee, it’s refreshing (for supplier and customer alike!). The therapist last week didn’t ask me how I liked my massage, she simply determined the best course of action and went for it, only saying to let her know if it got ‘too much.’
Tips for being bold:
- Offer your expert opinion as expert opinion – not with excuses or diminishing phrases like ‘what do you think?
- ‘TRUST your expert opinion. Customers pay other people to do things they can’t do – they are paying YOU to do things they can’t do.
- Conduct a needs analysis first – ask questions that go beyond what the customer is saying they want… discover what they need. Questions that start with ‘why‘ are perfect for determining needs.
So … be BOLD – stand out from your competitors and BOLDY go where they won’t. Your customers will appreciate it.
Your turn …
When have you been given what you NEEDED by a supplier, not necessarily what you wanted. Did you appreciate the bold approach?
Are you BOLD with your clients or customers? If so, why? If not, why not, what holds you back from being bold?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
- Games Your Customers WANT You to Play
- Done! It’s time to get things finished and ‘shipped’.
- Strategy. What is it? Really.
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes. When not working, Cat enjoys time with her 2 young boys, her husband and exploring the ever-evolving possibilities of social media. She is a connection junkie – getting a buzz out of connections both on- and off-line and is often seen with iPhone to ear and iPad at fingertips.
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Games Your Customers WANT You to Play
March 28, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
I’ve recently returned from Austin, Texas, having attended the world’s largest Interactive Media conference, South by South West.
There’s no doubt, based on the presentations by the world’s marketing and interactive media EXPERTS, that social media platforms are here to stay … and are forever changing how we do business. So, if there are readers of this blog who are yet to jump on board with platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, wait no more. (Contact me … or any of the other social media strategists within the ABN … and figure out how social media can be utilised in YOUR business.)
What was most exciting about SXSW was seeing the future trends. Now that the business-world is getting used to being ‘social,’ experts are suggesting the next evolution will be based on gaming… or as Seth Priebatsch (CEO of SCVNGR) called it, the gaming layer.
If you went to school, have a loyalty program card in your wallet or have ever had your credit card ‘upgraded’ to black, gold or platinum, then you have participated in the gaming layer. Essentially, a game is where players progress up levels of status or reward in return for appropriate behaviour – and are penalised for inappropriate behaviour.
What’s this got to do with business? Well, game mechanics of rewarding a purchase, or even a visit to a store, could assist a business with new customer acquisition. Or, instead of giving a customer their sixth coffee free, game-based loyalty programs could be used to reward regular customers with status and special privileges.
Dennis Crowley, Founder of FourSquare
Such games can now be played within social media applications. For example, FourSquare allows users to ‘check-in’ at a venue (retail store, hospitality venue, public space) and receive tips or insights from other visitors. More importantly, savvy businesses can make offers to both new and returning customers via these applications. A FourSquare user can also be enticed into a store or venue near their most recent-check-in… all based on their profile history.
Customised, targeted, real-time marketing… that’s fun for the consumer. Now that’s a game-changer!
Questions to spark more ideas…
How might *your* business use game mechanics to attract new customers or increase loyalty?
Which game mechanics have enticed you to ‘check-in,’ visit or buy?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
- Done! It’s time to get things finished and ‘shipped’.
- Strategy. What is it? Really.
- Why Are You Doing This?
- Party Themes – Simple Questions to Set the Scene
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat is a Business CATalyst, sparking ideas for peak business performance. With a keen interest in strategy, marketing, social media and personal effectiveness, Cat works with clients to have their business firing on all cylinders. Appalled by the notion of ‘silver-bullet’, ‘one-size-fits-all’ approaches to business success, Cat works with savvy business owners to connect the RIGHT resources with the RIGHT strategy to produce the desired business outcomes. When not working, Cat enjoys time with her 2 young boys, her husband and exploring the ever-evolving possibilities of social media. She is a connection junkie – getting a buzz out of connections both on- and off-line and is often seen with iPhone to ear and iPad at fingertips.
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Done! It’s time to get things finished and ‘shipped’.
February 28, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
Seth Godin calls it ‘shipping‘, Alycia Edgar wrote recently about ‘Just Do‘ and Nike says ‘Just Do It’.
I’m tempted to take it a step further and call it ‘done’ vs ‘doing’… but that confuses my mind a bit
I am a big ‘do-er’. I’m always ‘doing’ things. And tweaking them. And fine-tuning them. And waiting for the next update, and perfecting the delivery method, and designing the right ‘model’….
You see, I’m a big ‘do-er’… but not a big ‘done-er’ (no, that word is not going to do!). What I mean is, I have umpteen projects, ideas, files and plans that are all fantastic, awesome and have huge potential… but they rarely actually see the light of day because I keep them ‘with me’, instead of releasing them to the world.
Last night I completed an eBook, a collection of articles all about Strategy I have written over the years. I have put it together as a way to build my prospect list and capitalise on the various speaking engagements I have over the next few weeks. It is something I have wanted to do for years. Really. And last night I could finally say it was DONE!
Could it be better? Probably? Is it THE most effective way to capture leads from those audiences? I don’t know. Is it ‘something’? Yes. And will it add value to my marketing process? Absolutely!
So… why such a self-disclosing post? Because I know I’m not the only one. On a daily basis I see incredibly smart, intelligent, articulate, passionate, enthusiastic businesswomen with incredible ideas… ‘sit’ on those ideas… just waiting. Waiting for what? Waiting for the right time, the right window, the right platform, the right design, the right people… the right ‘whatever’.
So my question for YOU today…
What can you move to DONE … instead of doing?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
- Strategy. What is it? Really.
- Why Are You Doing This?
- Party Themes – Simple Questions to Set the Scene
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat Matson ignites the performance of small business owners, their teams and ultimately their businesses through a range of robust mentoring, coaching and education programs. She is a strong advocate for practical, pithy and ‘real’ business advice and loathes the ‘one-size-fits-all’, ‘you-too-can-be-widely-successful-if-you-just-follow-OUR-system’ approach taken by many ’so-called’ business experts. Cat runs Alito with her husband Keith who provides synergistic and smart accounting expertise to their clients who enjoy having streamlined business advice across all key areas. When not working, Cat enjoys spending time with her two young boys and reading interesting business books and biographies.
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Strategy. What is it? Really.
January 31, 2011
By Cat Matson, Alito
‘Strategy’ is a word that is thrown around so much in business development circles, it’s just part of the vernacular. However many small business owners don’t ‘really understand what strategy is … or how to create one. In fact, many small business owners I speak to think that a strategy is some ‘big’ thing that only big corporates need. Is it any wonder? I invested an entire MBA subject on ‘Strategic Planning’, concurrent with another on ‘Business Planning’ … and it’s only through the years of practice and advisory since that I actually now understand what strategy really is.
A quick visit to Wikipedia turns up the following definition:
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. How a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: the terms and conditions that it is fought on and whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy …
In business therefore, your strategy is the overarching plan of action designed to achieve your business goal. Note the singular ‘goal’ there. Your business plan may outline how you’ll achieve many ‘goals’ … but they should all be subsets of the ultimate ‘goal’ … the ultimate outcome of your business.
Further, your strategy is how the tactics (engagements) are linked. It’s aligning ALL the processes and functions of your business so they synergistically converge to reach the desired outcome. It’s creating a clear path, or pipeline, to maximise desired output for minimum input … minimising diversions and obstacles.
The problem is, strategy is often created in functional silos … a strategy is created for the marketing function, the finance function and the admin function. And then each individual ‘strategy’ is clumsily bolted on to the other. It works … but not optimally … and certainly not synergistically. Referring back to the Wikipedia definition, too many business owners spend their time designing their tactics … without a strong enough grasp of their overarching strategy.
To effectively design your strategy you really need a helicopter view – visualise the disparate parts of your business and, looking from above, do they ‘line up’ to effortlessly produce the final result? Which ‘pipes’ need to be rejoined? Where are there leakages … and where are the unnecessary diversions? Is the flow of customers and revenue optimised … or slowed?
So what is strategy? I say it is aligning the otherwise disparate parts of your business so they sing in concert, instead of a discordant cacophony.
Really
Over to you: how do you see strategy? How is your strategy working for you?
MORE GREAT POSTS BY CAT MATSON
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Cat Matson - AlitoCat Matson ignites the performance of small business owners, their teams and ultimately their businesses through a range of robust mentoring, coaching and education programs. She is a strong advocate for practical, pithy and ‘real’ business advice and loathes the ‘one-size-fits-all’, ‘you-too-can-be-widely-successful-if-you-just-follow-OUR-system’ approach taken by many ’so-called’ business experts. Cat runs Alito with her husband Keith who provides synergistic and smart accounting expertise to their clients who enjoy having streamlined business advice across all key areas. When not working, Cat enjoys spending time with her two young boys and reading interesting business books and biographies.
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