Strategy 101

What is strategy? How does strategy work?

These are the two questions we get asked the most at Scopo. Here are the answers.
Strategy is "aligning" decisions to uniquely "position" your company/division/product/service to create a "sustainable advantage" and "maximum value" as compared to the competition.

OK, so what the heck does this mean?!?!? Let's simplify.

Developing a strategy requires you to have a goal in mind and make the best decisions to achieve the goal. Let's say your goal is to be the regional leader as a low-cost package delivery service. OK, how do you do this?

There are many questions you must answer such as what resources and capabilities are needed, how best to market your service, and what type of management systems and structures are required to achieve your goal?

A strategy will NOT ONLY identify what resources and capabilities are needed such as cash and skilled labor, NOT ONLY identify how best to market your service such as with a strong advertising campaign, and NOT ONLY identify what type of management systems and structures are needed such as IT software programs and a knowledgeable sales force.......

But a strategy will allow you to decide the BEST way to utilize your cash and skilled labor, allow you to decide the BEST way to advertise your service, and allow you to decide the BEST type of IT software and salesperson training programs are needed.

Here's the kicker...

• A strategy will "align" all of your decisions toward the goal in mind. This saves you a tremendous amount of time, energy and money!

• A strategy uniquely "positions" your service - meaning you will know exactly which customers you will pursue, and your customers will know what real value you will provide them

• And a strategy will create a "sustainable advantage" because you will know how to stay two steps ahead of your competition, and create "maximum value" for your company as compared to the competition because you will know exactly how to reallocate all of that saved time, energy and money into your service so that your company can grow to its maximum potential over and over and over again.

This is what is meant by TAKING OFF! And in the end, this is exactly what Scopo wants to do for your small business - TAKE OFF! When small businesses TAKE OFF our entire community TAKES OFF with new jobs and cash that gets reinvested back into the community over and over and over again!

Every company/division/product/service are unique in their own special way with their own unique resources and capabilities. So a strategy will be unique too so that it identifies how best to "align" and "position" these resources and capabilities to create a "sustainable advantage" and "maximum value."