Trina Hoefling Untethered

Not long ago, a stressed entrepreneur got tired of being a permanent small business (by choice and habit) and decided she wanted to build her dream team. Being collaborative by nature, and following her own coaching advice, she decided to weave into her dreams a team of competent go-getters who were also go-givers (www.Burg.com).

Preparing for her dream team and moving her strategy forward, she was balancing tactics like segmenting and updating her contacts with her client work. She poured a second glass of wine (or was it a beer?) in rare celebration of a fully updated, fully backed up database. Shortly after, the computer karma gods pulled the rug out from under her. In a novel you, dear reader, would wade through the painful details. But since this is a real fable, let’s just say it was frustrating to do “everything right” only to have disaster strike anyway. The insurance pays for the rebuild, but the damage is still a setback.

But… in walks Alex. Here’s a guy that, at 4:00 am no where near heading home, chats with me about mindmapping my IT strategy with me when we get through this crisis. I need to be more specific about how I go about manifesting my team members, but wow! It has been the least painful crash I’ve been through. (And believe me, if you know me personally, you know I stood in the wrong line at computer karma camp.)

So… I’ve been silent because the sorting out continues plus I spent last week in Florida at Extreme Business Makeover! There is so much good to share, I’m saving that for another day. For now, let’s just say miracles abound, and if you are an entrepreneur, a network marketer, or have dreams of same, mark your calendar now for next years 3rd Annual Extreme Business Makeover, sponsored by Bob Burg and Thom Scott. (www.extremebusinessmakeover.com) you really must consider it. I’ll tell you why later, but for now, I’m back at the blog (and soon will get that word out! One of the delays that comes with technical disaster and corrupted pst files.).

Work is good, Florida was great, and I got some wonderful family time in while there, too. Hiring myself as my own coach has been a good decision so far!

I must cautiously admit, I spend too much time on operational minutia that interferes with strategic thought. Entrepreneurs nearly always spend much of their time working both In and On your business. As much as I hold myself accountable for working by Gerber’s tenets (E-Myth Revisited) of owners working on their businesses rather than in them, I have chosen the virtual entreprenurial path rather than enterprise building. I not only strategically focus and build my business, I also run it and provide client services directly. My strategic plan is action oriented. And I am the chief implementer, at least based on choices I have made over the last 25+ years of self-employment.

I am compelled to come out of the closet about that. Just as therapists still fight with their family members despite “knowing better,” I architect and build my own business. Yes, I partner. Yes, I outsource. Yes, I strategically lead myself and my virtual teams. And yes, I still work in my business. I like working with my clients, and if I love it why should I give it up? But at what cost?

I work more than I should. I have to carve out time for strategic reflection. And I do. Without that, I’d be working hard without no assurance that my work is the right work. Business owners tell me that the strategic planning process itself is seldom as powerful as it could be. Strategic planning is as old as the hills. And often stagnant.

With some transformative simplification, your business strategy can become a daily and active power tool coupled with reflective attention.

If a business is shaped by outside forces – and it always is – a cardinal principle for sustainable and lasting business is: Don’t wait for crisis to think strategy. If your approach to the marketplace is strategic, it looks backwards, around you (both inside and outside your organization), and forward.

This gives you and your team complete and absolute ownership of the strategy. A strategy that has been created by the people who have a vital stake in the future of an organization gets implemented much more quickly and much more successfully than one that is imposed. And one that is “vetted” by the people who are also implementing the work each day has built in self-correction that is undeniably powerful.

I assess both internal and external environments. The data are highly subjective and consist of the personal perceptions of all stakeholders, including me. The key is to tap into that knowledge base and bring these perceptions into an objective forum for rational debate. And while past and present are crucial, forward creation and adaptation is where the power is. The Future is the engine of business building.

Building success based on strategy starts with the CEO’s vision for the future of the organization. In my case, that is ME.

Instead of talking vision, however, let’s transform that vision into a profile or picture of the company’s future based on what is happening and possible in the marketplace. Even if it doesn’t exist yet. Decisions that fit inside the profile are tested, sorted, chosen (or note) and pursued. Those that do not are abandoned. The profile becomes the filter. It helps memake consistent and intelligent decisions on behalf of my company.

The next strategic thought question is What elements of my company should I touch? I must collect tangible evidence that my strategy and direction are on point. Look at the company’s portfolio of current and announced products and services. I examine competitors, select strategic partners and allies, seek input from suppliers and team members, and listen well to my advisors.

They help me frame the products/services that GroupONE Solutions decides to offer and to whom it offers them. Industry segments, geographic and virtual markets, unmet or undermet marketplace needs – all elements are either inputs or outputs of the strategic profile of my (or my client’s) business.

What is the goal? Simple. Strategic supremacy.

By placing yourself and your key executives/partners in a time machine and moving yourself ahead a few years, you will have a very good picture of the future.

And now your work is to support implementing the plan, thereby establishing strategic supremacy and creating the business you want instead of the business the marketplace hands you by default.