Strategy

The journey starts here

For many, strategy is about where we want to go and what we need to do to get there. But why you are doing it and how you make the journey is just as important as the destination.

  • The first thing to think about is why you want to start a business or a social enterprise.
    • what is the problem you are trying to solve and for whom?
    • what are your core values, what really matters to you?
  • How will you stand out?
    • what is going to differentiate you from everyone else?
    • this could be a new technology or it could be the way you operate, the company culture
  • What do you need to do in order to be successful?
    • what are the key activities of the business?
    • who are the key people?

I am here to help you to think about these questions, so that your business not only has solid foundations but also reflects your personal values.

Share your questions and challenges with me.

Some of my strategy related posts

Having purpose

Why? When developing a business strategy, ‘why’ is the most important question to keep revisiting. Why does your business exist and are you being true to your vision? Why are you choosing one action over another? Strategy is about long term planning, and provides the framework for the activities of the entire business. It’s very…

Focus on the big picture

Are you more interested in seeing the big picture or the details? I love my work, and I love working with people, but I also love getting away from it all! When I do, I take my camera and the images I take tend to make me reflect on work topics too. My current obsession…

In praise of ‘daft lassie’ questions

Have you ever been in a meeting where someone is using business acronyms or technical terminology, and everyone seems to know what it means except you? I certainly have. What do you do in that situation? Nod in apparent agreement and make notes, whilst trying to figure out what they meanDoodle whilst your mind wanders…

The future is not like in the movies

This is the second of the opinion pieces that I’ve been asked to write as part of the Scotsman newspaper 200 year celebration. It was published in the Scotsman on 3rd August, 2017, but I thought I’d reproduce it here, to keep my writing in one place. According to a recent report by the Institute…

Are You Leading or Managing?

I’ve led a couple of discussions recently on the topic of leadership. The groups were very different (undergraduate students/corporate mid-management) but the discussions on what makes a good leader were remarkably similar. What I found interesting was that most of the examples they provided were simply good management skills. They described people with good communications…