Why Does Strategy Matter?

Checkmate doesn’t happen without it. Battles are lost without it. Even learning to read or doing math is harder without it. And you’ve probably heard lots of business gurus talking about it. So, what exactly is this “it”? It’s strategy. Through all of life’s challenges—and especially in business—strategy is a HUGE part of success. The question is: why is it so important? 

Setting Goals

Goal setting is such an important element in your life and in your business. Without goals, you can find yourself just throwing things at a wall and hoping they stick. Strategy helps you set goals with intention. That’s why I talk about it so much. Having a clear strategy helps you create a plan, which, in turn, helps you form goals!

Action Steps

Sometimes, even if you have a great goal, it’s still hard to come up with the necessary steps to achieve it. Having a strategy in place helps you identify actionable steps that will help you reach that goal. Because you have strategized beforehand, you will find that you’ve already done a lot of the work of figuring out the steps you need to take to reach your goals and reach them faster.

Easier Detours

But what happens if your original action plan and steps don’t quite fit the bill when you put them into practice? Having a strategy in place allows you to easily revise your roadmap to success. The more strategic and organized your plan is, the easier it is to switch out certain elements, move up (or push back) timelines, or even create new and better goals to serve your needs. Without a strategy in place, you may find yourself confused or stuck when you encounter a problem and need to pivot.

Increased Efficiency

With a strategy, you can streamline your processes and set up systems that will help increase your efficiency. Without a strategy, you might not even know what systems you should have in the first place, which leads to more questions and perhaps doubts about your direction. This is especially true when your business is ready to scale up (or even after you have scaled up). Without a clear strategy regarding systems and processes, you can find yourself overwhelmed with the changes that come with that success.

The Why

Strategies also help you maintain focus on the “why” of your business. Keeping the “why” (why you’re doing what you’re doing) in the forefront of your mind helps you continue to push forward even when times are tough or setbacks seem overwhelming. It’s important to make sure you don’t lose sight of why you’re in this business in the first place. 

Overall, having a robust strategy helps you stay organized, maintains your forward momentum, gives you focus and clarity at challenging stages in your journey, and helps you keep your eye on the ultimate prize!