Don't start here!

If you have less than 5/10 employees then don't start here. Start with getting your operations straight, and then thinking about business development....

But if you really want to read on we can't stop you....

What is strategy?

Business strategy is the top level of a business plan and includes the

• marketing sub-strategy (Oops - business school speak - Sorry!)

We are only concerned with marketing strategy here, but it is worth noting that also in the strategy level are two other sub-strategies:

• supplier development sub-strategy
• internal business development sub-strategy( your products, internal processes and organisation)

Strategy is, of course concerned with long term things that don't change quickly, or cannot be changed quickly.

How does strategy relate to market development?

In our model of a business, strategy feeds via the "marketing sub-strategy" into the "market development" level tasks:

• "market segmentation" task.
• "decision makers" task
• "competitors" task
• "marketing mix" task

We also believe that a feedback link from the operational level is an important input to strategy reviews. You will find this link in our "customers" task.

How important is strategy to a small business?

Not very! - particularly if you are very small.

We think there is only two important strategy issues for a small business:

• Now: "When do you want to retire and how much do you want to sell your business for when you do so?"
• Later on you will have to write business plans to raise capital or prepare for selling the business. The people you are talking to then will want to a a nice shiny polished & detailed business strategy - but don't let it concern you in terms of running your business!

We could expand on strategy if you like, but haven't done so yet. If you would like us to why not tell us by making a comment below?