Business Strategy

Planning for business success

We turn visions into reality through strategic advice, business planning, implementation and continuous improvement.

Planning is an iterative process

Running a successful business is all about knowing where you are going and how you are going to get there.

It’s the continued and iterative process of business planning that’s important as it helps you to focus, prioritise and make informed decisions. Draw on our expertise. We help you formulate, review and implement your winning strategy so that you achieve your vision and your goals.

Step 1 – plan

First, clarify your business vision and goals. Before developing strategy, make sure you understand the marketplace in which you operate and what resources you have available. If you don’t know where to start or need help with market research then our team will step in with advice and carry out the research and analysis you need. Goals are long term outcomes, so be clear about what milestones you need to achieve along the way. Milestones will help you to identify strategic objectives which can then be aligned to team and individual objectives. We will work with you to translate your goals into objectives and develop strategies to achieve them.

During the planning phase we cover the following:

Keep it simple and keep your audience in mind. Who are you preparing your business plan for? Is it for internal use or for other stakeholders eg shareholders, investors or a grant or loan application? Will it answer their key questions? As a quick guide your business plan should cover:

your value proposition
your target market
who your competitors are
how you will gain traction
who is going to make it happen
what the risks are
funding
a financial forecast
key milestones
your exit strategy

Our strategy team will guide you through the business planning process and assist with research and analysis, as well as helping you to formulate strategies for your business that will help you achieve your goals.

Before you develop your marketing strategy you need to understand your market place:

who your customers are and where they are
how and where they buy
what demand there is for your product / service
how big the potential market is
who your competitors are, how you differ and how you will stand out

Research will help you to validate whether you have a viable product or service to sell, understand how best to sell it and how to manage and minimise risk. But, spend too long researching and someone else will enter the market ahead of you.

If the numbers don’t stack up, don’t go ahead. To find out, start by keeping it simple and high level.

Forewarned is forearmed. We help you to identify and evaluate internal and external risk factors broken down into operational, political and regulatory, economic, social and cultural, and technological. Once you understand how these factors influence your business performance, you will be able to take more calculated risks.

An exit strategy is not just about when to exit your business once you’ve reached your goals, it’s also about having an exit strategy for your worse case scenario. If things don’t work out, then exiting at the right time and before it is too late, could mean the difference between exiting with a small amount of money versus going into liquidation.

Step 2 – execution

Effective strategy execution is all about communication and implementing the strategic plan. It means getting your people on board and ensuring they are committed and work towards the same goals and objectives. We help you tackle these challenges by providing training and people management skills. A strategy is only as good as it’s execution.

Step 3 – review outcomes

Always check whether your business strategy is working. Is your business on track to achieve its goals? Reviewing what is working and what is not working (which we call performance management) is a critical part of the process during which you can draw actionable insights to help you improve business performance.

Step 4 – adapt

Business plans are working documents against which you monitor progress, evaluate challenges and spot opportunities. Our consultants help you to do this, to be proactive and stay ahead of the game.

The outcome – be empowered

When you know where you’re going and why, you feel committed and determined. The right attitude makes a big difference. We help to get you there.

Testimonials

“Looking at the way my business operates today compared with how it was before Business Clan got involved I’m not sure how I ever managed without them!”

Caroline Rocheron, Wimbledon Babysitting

“Business Clan understood our needs from the off-set and provided meaningful feedback and updates on sensible next steps. We have learnt many things about our business approach that we hadn’t even thought of, which is fantastic!”

Ben Spector, Spectronics

“The advice and support Business Clan have given us has truly assisted us in improving how BeLiminal operates as a business. Our interactions with Business Clan are always insightful, enjoyable and very helpful – in fact it feels like we are all part of the same team!”

Susie Kablean, BeLiminal

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