I have been waiting several years to begin this discussion about strategy and the small business person, especially for the folks in the real estate industry. Over the next several days, weeks, and years I will share my thoughts as well as other strategist opinions on strategy in the hopes a few of us will use the information to operate our companies more efficiently and profitably.

Personally, I have heard the word strategy one TOO many times and I bet you have too. How many times have you heard, “what is your strategy?”, or “just plan a strategy and implement it.” Do you really know what strategy means? In the next several posts I will look a little deeper into the “real” meaning of strategy and how to implement one.

Strategy is taught at every business school in the world, usually at the graduate level. Why we don’t teach the small business person is amusing to me. I actually think learning the true meaning of strategy along with a little strategy training and practice, the average small business owner can significantly increase their bottom line. A good strategy is a fundamental building block to all successful companies. Host of consultants and advisors have built careers around strategy, why, because it is the core of ALL operations, systems, and culture of successful firms.

So what is strategy, really? Let’s start by saying what it is not. It is not a mission or a vision statement, it is not a business plan or a sig sigma formula, it is NOT a fixed method written in stone. It is the purpose of your business that matters. It is something with more meaning and power than all the tools you use to operate. We must be careful of the books, blogs and inspirational leaders who attempt to define our strategies for us or put strategy formation in a perfect formula using statistics and SWOT’s (Strength, Weakeness, Opporunties and Threats). This old school passe tool only give us insight on our companies but does not  define the prupose that matters in our companies. It is up to us, the business owner, leader, C-level executive to understand our companies strategy and sustainable competitive advantage.  Then execute the strategy at all levels of the organization, truly finding the the reason you matter and why you should continue to exists.

We really don’t want to learn or talk about strategy because the word itself is over used and taken out of context in almost every aspect of business. That is why I hate the word strategy. It so important yet very few people know how to implement and maintain a good sound strategy. My purpose is to help all small business owners to begin to look at the word strategy in a different way, a way that leads to better efficiency and profits in the long run. Stay tune…