Why you need a ‘strategy’ guy
“I make progress by having people around who are smarter than I am and listening to them. And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am.” — Henry J. Kaiser
Most successful small businesses are started by two people. Usually what happens is that there is one person with a great idea to make a product (“the technical guy”) and another person who knows how to get customers (“the sales guy”).
An example of such a pairing happened in 1976 between the late steve Jobs and steve Wozniak. Wozniak was busy building a computer and steve Jobs saw the potential to sell it. In an interview with the Seattle Times newspaper of April 10 2006, Wozniak explained, “I was just doing something I was very good at, and the thing that I was good at turned out to be the thing that was going to change the world...steve [Jobs] was much more further-thinking. When I designed good things, sometimes he would say, ‘We can sell this.’ And we did. that’s how Apple was created and went on to become one of the most successful technology companies in the world.”
I have seen similar partnerships work in Zimbabwe. In most cases, when a technical person collaborates with a sales person, the business grows. there are two keys to a successful business model. the first is to have a good product that people want and need. the second key is to have someone who knows how to sell the product. No matter how good a product is, it does not sell itself. People have to hear about it first, then become convinced to buy it. If you sell enough to make profit and grow, then your business is successful.
However, I have noticed one thing among smes who work as partners like that. they build a business and it grows to a certain point. the growth then slows down and in many cases the business gets broke and the partnership collapses.
the reason for the slow down and collapse is usually related to a lack of strategy. What is needed is for the partners to bring in a “strategy guy”. After a decade of success, Apple started facing slowing sales. steve Jobs had been fired because he did not see eye to eye with the board of the company and steve Wozniak had also left.
If Apple was a small company without big capital, its story would be lying in the annals of history as just another corporate failure.
Now why do business partners, a technical person and sales person need a strategy person? Because without strategy, neither can win. strategist sun tzu, who wrote The Art of War around 500 BCE, said it succinctly: “strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim, or to solve a particular problem. the strategy guy will help the business partners to develop and implement a successful long-term plan.
strategy development is a cru- cial activity that needs someone to lead it. the core management team should be involved in order for a business to come up with single vision and common purpose.
the process starts with an analysis of the current situation. You need to know how the business is performing, in terms of growth, profitability, customer care. You also need to compare yourself with how your competitors are fairing. once there is a clear picture of the current situation, the team can then work out a plan of action to achieve the business’ overall goal.
Goals are usually set in terms of financial results, but they could also be in terms of market share or position in the market. I liked Adidas’ strategy; the sportswear maker’s goal for the next five years is to be the global leader in the sporting goods industry with brands built upon a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle. Putting it simply, the CEO said they must overtake Nike, currently the largest sportswear maker in the world, by 2020.
once the action plan is in place, the business owners must put it into action. this means all activities in the company, all decisions, must be designed to bring the business closer to meeting its overarching goal. When there is a decision that partners disagree on, the choice will simply be answered by asking which option brings the business closer to its overall goal. once that is set, you will never have to argue with your partner again. You will regularly review the strategy to ensure it remains relevant in the changing economic environment.
I hope this article will help SME owners and partners to build sustainable businesses, making use of a clear, written strategy. Please let me have your feedback at my email address below.
Phillip Chichoni is a business development consultant who works with SMEs and entrepreneurs. You may contact him by email, chichonip@smebusinesslink.com. You can also visit http://smebusinesslink.com