commitment that the meetings cannot
be cancelled.”
BE ACCOUNTABLE
Appoint a trusted person with whom to
talk through your strategic plans, or at
least to hold you accountable for doing
your strategy reviews. It could be a
business coach, friend or a colleague.
WHEN SETTING STRATEGY,
MAKE GOALS REALISTIC
Sean says: “Business leaders
underestimate what they can achieve in
a year and overestimate what they can
achieve short term.
“Set and agree the long-term goal and
then break it down into smaller actions,
with a time frame of when each one
needs to be completed.”
SHARE YOUR STRATEGY WITH
OTHERS
Gerry Tombs, managing
director of software and services
company Clearvision, says: “We use a
1-3-5 system - one big vision statement,
three goals that will deliver against that
vision and five tasks required to deliver
the three goals.
“We use this system across all
departments of the business and
all staff know the vision, goals and
tasks and the time frame for delivery.
Once every fortnight we have ‘sprint
meetings’ to review the success of the
strategies for the last two weeks and set
them for the next two.”
If you’re a sole trader with no staff
with whom to share your strategy goals
and decisions, Simon suggests you
share them with your accountant and
bank manager: “It helps them feel part
of your team and they can help you
implement your strategy.
“Banks in particular love to have
regular information about your
strategy. It may also help if you want to
borrow.”
SET REGULAR DATES
FOR QUARTERLY REVIEWS
Simon suggests looking at your overall
business plan and strategy every 90
days.
“These quarterly reviews should
be longer than your weekly sessions,
which can be kept short and simple,”
he says. “If you don’t keep to a schedule
of quarterly reviews, your business
strategy risks going off at a tangent.”
TAKE A BREAK
Sean says: “I take one week off every
eight to switch off. Having this time
away is crucial for me to think clearly
and objectively about business
strategy.”
Having a break distances you
from the day to day activities of
business and allows you to see
the overall picture more clearly.
Last year Sandler surveyed 2,
small business owners who had
successfully been in business for over
five years and 19 per cent said they
thought up their business idea while
on holiday.
Sean points out: “Productivity is
not synonymous with hours worked.Prioritising time to unwind means
you can reflect and think without
distractions, which is essential for
business growth.”MAKE AN ANNUAL
APPOINTMENT
WITH STRATEGY
Simon says: “Once a year set aside
time to look at your business plan and
think about the year ahead - I do this on
January 1.”
He calls this ‘forward reflection’
because it involves reflecting on the
past year to see which strategies
worked and what results they
engendered and deciding strategies for
the year ahead.Choose a regular time and day
for a weekly strategy reviewJake Matthews, co-founder of Just Vehicle Solutions in Newark,
Nottinghamshire, says: “When we set up in 2013 we got help from a
business coach who asked us to set aside two hours every fortnight for a
meeting with him to discuss strategy.
“Often in the early days I thought we could not spare those two hours- we were running around panicking, cold calling and knocking on doors,
desperate to get customers.
“We all sometimes thought the meeting was a waste of time. Not now
though. We look back and realise that much of that work on strategy,
which did not seem very important at the time, is paying off now.
“I think that two hours a fortnight has in the long term cut out a few
year’s work in terms of growing the business.”
The Just Vehicle Solutions team still meet with their business coach
every two weeks, though the company is now long established.
Jake says: “I still sometimes feel our strategy meetings are not ‘real’
work, like the practical work we do day to day, but in fact it’s just as
valuable.”
He recommends all businesses set aside time to plan strategy and
says: “It’s especially useful to meet with someone who can give a
perspective from outside the business. They can often help you see a
clearer picture that you get working inside the business day to day.”
HOW I FOUND TIME TO WORK ON BUSINESS STRATEGY