Skills and training for directors and owners

Key skills for owners: strategy

All businesses need a strategy to succeed. A business strategy is different from a business plan. It is longer, looks further ahead and is more visionary.

It's easy to lose sight of the larger context when you're busy running a business, particularly a small one. But spending time on strategy will help you:

• know where your business is heading and how to position it to get there
• understand the challenges and opportunities your business faces and the best ways to address them
• improve the overall performance of your business

Tools to help you determine strategy

Many business tools can help you determine strategy. One popular one is a SWOT analysis, in which you:

• consider all your business strengths
• consider all your business weaknesses
• identify any business opportunities
• identify any threats facing your business

Read advice on carrying out a SWOT analysis on the bizhelp 24 website.

Analysing your results carefully will show you how to build on strengths, resolve weaknesses, exploit opportunities and avoid threats.

Another strategy tool is a gap analysis, in which you analyse in detail where your business is now and then consider where you want it to be in the future. Next, you analyse the gap between the two in order to find ways to bridge it.

Forming your strategy

A business strategy should be realistic, putting in place measurable targets for the medium-term. It should be reviewed regularly.

Importantly, the task of strategy-building should not be delegated. Rather, as your business grows you can spend more time on it as others handle day-to-day activities.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• The core skills all businesses require
• New skills required by growing businesses
• Key skills for owners: strategy
• Key skills for owners: delegation
• Key skills for owners: building a management team
• Key skills for owners: managing your team
• Skills and training for company directors
• Sources of leadership training
• Here's how management training improved our business

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