Strategy and Start Up Business

When starting a new businesses,  entrepreneurs go through the myriad of tasks to get done.   In my experience around the startups I see that a critical process is overlooked and most importantly never implemented.    This is strategy.   By strategy I mean more forward and agile looking thought.  It’s a little more crafty than a business plan.  Your business plan is important in the thought process, but looks more at viability.   Strategy is how you are going to accomplish marketing,  develops culture and develop brand DNA.   It focuses on short term [12 to 18 months] objectives.

I rank strategy as the highest weighing success factor after management.  Why?  Because when managers execute a well thought out strategy it develops some really cool companies.   Companies that I think are really cool that had a great strategy are Chipotle,  New Belgium,  SmashBurger.   If you look at these companies they have strong values,  big brand and strong customer loyalty.   So how does a start up think about strategy?

1) Push your brand and develop a clear brand DNA – that means don’t skimp on the look,  professionalism and culture that builds your brand and image.   It’s important to have a clear, simple and clean message and look for your company.  Does that mean spend thousands? No.  Think about how you look.  Develop a simple LogoType and use two colors.  You can use a logo development company if you want to spend a few hundred dollars and feel you need a logo.   Remember, that you need to put your identity on many things and it needs to be simple, repeatable and recognizable.   Imagine yourself in 5 or 10 years not in the present when developing your Brand DNA – [that's the logo, colors, trademarks, slogans, marketing material, web site, etc.]    Brand DNA strategy is straightforward because it is something you can see.

2)  Competitive strategy.  Most managers have thought about the competition or the landscape and the marketplace.   However, it’s rare that they execute and share this strategy with the company.    Successful companies take the best practices of existing successes,  and competitors and put their value stamp on them.    I see the most creative people using various ways of marketing and gaining on the competition using methods and tools that they have seen or read about elsewhere.    There is a lot of ways to beat your competition and gain customers and prominently in front of you.  One example  is a pizza restaurant.  Their direct competitor has better pizza but horrible customer service.   How did they gain more deliveries and customers?  They opened 1/2 hour earlier and stayed open 1 hour longer then the competition.   They saw a significant up tick in deliveries and the lunch business boomed, customers raved about the fact that they could call and get a pizza at a decent hour [9pm] in the neighborhood.

3) The strategic document.   This document really is the foundation for my successes.   This document is simple it states your goal for the year.   Then breaks down the goal into specific tasks that need to be completed.    This sometimes is a very high level [executive] document.   Here’s my secret,  share it and re visit this document frequently.   Share it with your closest advisors,  partners, vendors, and key customers.   Most important share it with your staff.  Even if it is just three of you.   This document shares your thought process.  And if you have ever been in a start up sometimes you hear the “what the hell were they thinking?”  The strategic document covers this.   It also gets the entire team into the strategic process and thinking more about the customer acquisition process.

So when you think about your business and startup – think strategically.  You do it all of the time but just don’t put the thoughts to paper and don’t execute the objectives very often.   Keep your objectives simple and clear.   Don’t use obvious objectives such as get more clients.   But do use “acquire the three highly visible clients in the New Mexico area”.   Don’t use “get the website done”.   Use “develop a strong and compelling web site that provides for gaining customers, and enhances our marketing strategy”.

I am available for insight and comments on strategy and don’t forget that our start up package covers a lot of strategy and strategic thought which is very different than a typical start up service.

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