Reilly Newman | Strategy is unpleasant and uncomfortable. That’s the point. You see, the point of a strategy is to create a point. Ideally, it should form a unique and accurate approach for the business to address a certain need in the market.
This doesn’t necessarily mean it will redefine your business model or how you go about doing business, but it could adjust a few aspects. Believe it or not, I’ve repositioned brands where their strategy was right under their nose. They were approaching their market already in a unique way, but they needed to increase the awareness of this and lean into this strength.
Strategy contorts your business to make sacrifices and does increase the risk of failure because you are being more articulate with what your goal is. Now you think strategy sounds scary. Yes, making sacrifices is scary. It’s completely rational to wish to keep all options available and apply your business across a broad spectrum. This is also why many businesses fail. As they attempt to be everything to everyone, they enter the world of indifference. No one cares. This broad approach also puts them in the category of behemoths like Amazon, WalMart, J&J, Temu and other massive corporations that either have the strength and model to apply to a broad spectrum or have grown to a size where they simply apply to the masses. Either way, this is not the path for your business unless you’re wanting to close-up shop….
For your business to have a strategy, you will have to make decisions. This means saying YES to certain things deliberately. It also means — more importantly — saying NO to many other things. A proper decision doesn’t leave options available. By definition, a decision is “to cut off” — to choose your path and eliminate the others. To “burn the ships” and venture forward!
In business, we have all heard the stories of great brands doing this. From Amazon choosing to only sell books because there was a market opportunity as well as logistical advantages, to In-N-Out only having three options on their menu of just burgers and fries. These decisions said YES, but also said NO to much more, which in the end has made them unimaginably successful.
I bet they felt pressure to say YES to more things and I bet they felt uncomfortable at times with their decisions and the strategy they are pushing forward with. There are many small businesses who have successfully done this as well. They have made the great sacrifice to decide on their strategy and choose. They have furthered their expertise and position which has given them an advantage in the market. They didn’t leave options open.
They created a point with their strategy that empowered their business to break in the market and break through all the white noise.
It’s not a pleasant process and you’ll never be 100% sure because you’ll most likely be… alone. While everyone else is “playing it safe” and staying indifferent to their audience, they will tell you to expand your offerings, sell to other markets, or even market in ways that just don’t align with your strategy. Majority will follow and join the lukewarm pool of lookalikes because it does look easier. It’s less work and less sacrifice.
The minority will choose to do the work and make the sacrifice. They will stand out and win in the long run because they not only are more agile, but can create more value for their audience from the focus. Their unique approach to the market stands out and their precision to capturing the value they create is much more profitable. That’s the point.
