Creating a Good Strategy

Every successful strategy presents a vision and a plan for creating and maintaining competitive advantage in the future.

You know your market, are sure of your objectives, and understand your options. What you need now is to evaluate those options and create a vision, a plan to achieve it, and a clear understanding of how to make that plan work.

You need to consider many factors when drafting your strategy. Your responsibilities to your stakeholders, to your stated ethical principles and mission, and to society in general are important, but are ultimately subservient to return on investment (or the effective use of resources for non-profit organizations). So what does a good strategy look like?

Every successful strategy presents a vision and a plan for creating and maintaining competitive advantage in the future. It asks, and answers, questions such as:

• What services or products will be required in the next three to five years?
• Who will your competitors be?
• Why will you be more successful than them?

ACTION POINT: Understand the questions that will help you create a good strategy.