Whether you’re planning to sell your company one day or not, these questions should be addressed
A common question we get from owners and CEO’s is what questions should their company strategy address? Strategic thinking and planning will conjure up many questions and that’s healthy. But for many this is what can cause strategic planning to become so daunting. And when things become daunting, we tend not to want to address them and allow ourselves to be distracted by more tactical matters.
We share that at the end of the day, here are the most critical questions your company strategy should answer for you:
- What are the worth drivers that a future investor or acquirer will look for if considering investing in or acquiring my company?
- What is my company core competence that I need to protect and invest in?
- What is my company worth today, what do I want it to be at a future date and how big is this gap?
- If there is a gap that I want to close, what is causing it?
- What actions would I need to take to address any gap?
- Within the industry landscape that we serve, where is our company optimally positioned to build long term company worth?
- How should we evolve our product/service portfolio to be unique in serving target customers?
- What financial need does my business have and how will I finance my plan?
- What organization do we need to deliver on our plan – what talent, experience and structure is optimal for today but also to help us close any gaps we see?
Your company strategy, either in your head or on paper, will help answer many questions that guide you and your team in evolving your company to an even better place. But it’s easy to get lost in many, many tactical questions that can detract your energy and thinking from the broader level questions that need to be answered first. Answering the more strategic questions first will in fact make many of the tactical questions easier to answer.
