Entering into a business or business deal blind is a gamble.

Building specific business strategies is an

absolute necessity to increase the odds of success. And the importance of business strategy quickly
becomes apparent, and strategies come in various styles. Many business owners will seek or hire
outside consultants to assist with forming and carrying out strategies.

Ultimately, a sound strategy or set of strategies that constantly evolve and improve is a path to a
better business. Without strategy, the business depends on blind luck.

The Importance of Strategy

Strategy answers the questions about a business. How will it run? What is the market? How does the
business compete against similar businesses? What is the profit model and profit potential? How
much inventory and how many employees are needed to perform daily functions?

The list of questions is a long one. And, ultimately, the answers to those questions are used to form a
good business strategy. The two key elements behind any business are the major goals and the
strategy to reach those goals. The third part is the execution to make it all happen.

Without the strategy, a path to achieving goals is not clearly defined, and the business will hit
roadblocks without any immediate solutions to move forward.

Big Picture Role of Strategy

The overarching strategy is essentially the business structure and core functions. Business owners and
managers build departments to handle specific tasks and setup processes to execute the core
operating functions. This strategy runs the business on a daily basis. It’s the way in which products or
services are built or sold while maintaining operational objectives.

After the big picture strategy built, specific strategies are developed around each department and
task. How can the product improve? Where can we penetrate new markets? Questions of this nature
are constantly developing and contributing to a refined set of strategies.

Specific Strategies
A few specific and common good business strategies are hiring, marketing and sales. Other aspects of
the business are often stabilized after the initial structural strategy is achieved. Hiring, marketing and
sales however are always evolving and they contribute to productivity and bottom line profitability.

A hiring strategy is critical for reducing turnover and finding quality to produce productive employees.
Building robust job descriptions clearly states your desires and filtering through employees to find the
best hires is intensive. Good help is hard to find as some business owners say.

Marketing strategy is used to build and define your brand through strategic messaging. Marketing will
ultimately create the business motto, logos and messages that are used in advertising and sales
collateral.

The sales strategies differ from marketing because they are directly responsible for generating
revenue. Sales functions on goals and strategies for inbound and outbound processes. How will the
business reach potential customers and bring them to the business? How will the business go out and
find the customers to make sales directly? These two questions are common starting points for
building the sales process.

The company can then build scripts for cold calling, train inside sales teams to receive and convert
customers and create outbound sales processes to get in front of customers and win their business.
It’s a competitive world and a well thought out strategy is critical for both marketing and sales.

Pricing Strategies
Even though the concept of pricing strategy sounds easy, it is actually quite complex. Many businesses
have a set it and forget it mentality, but those who test and price products based on their market, can
better maximize sales and revenue.
In some cases, that means pricing above the median market to distinguish the brand. In others, it
means acquiring inventory in bulk and pricing below the market on a tighter margin to drive more
sales. Pricing is tightly associated with the brand and how that brand is portrayed and received by the
consumer.