If you’re a small business owner, it’s crucial that you have a strategy to map out your road to success; otherwise, you’ll find yourself floundering with no clear direction. But how do you create a strategy?

Here are five simple tips to guide you through the process:

1. Do a thorough review

Before you start planning the road ahead, you need to review where you’ve come from e.g. what areas of the business have worked well, what could have been better, and what opportunities lie ahead.

It’s important to assess your own strengths and weaknesses and look at external factors that will influence your business such as social, economic and technological.

2. Set goals

Ask yourself what you want the future direction of the business to be, then set goals for the short, medium and long term. By doing this, you are developing a vision statement for your business – a description of its purpose and values.

3. Create a mission statement

This may sound complicated, but it’s about outlining your business objectives; what you need to do in the short term to realise your long-term goals. To help create your mission statement, you may find it beneficial to ask the question: “where do you want your business to be in 3 years?”. This will help you answer questions about what you do, how you do it, who you do it for, and what value you bring to customers.

4. Put plans in place

Now you’ve created your vision and mission statements, you need to start putting plans in place, including what action you’ll take in order to achieve the goals you’ve set for your business. Start with plans and measurable actions for short-term goals, that way you’ll feel like you’re making progress quickly.

5. Manage your performance

It’s pointless having vision and mission statements if you aren’t following through on your actions. It’s vital to continually review your goals and action plans to ensure that you’re on track and you’re moving towards achieving your objectives.

Developing a business strategy for your small business can seem daunting, but it doesn’t need to be. By contacting Propeller Advisory, a specialist virtual accounting and bookkeeping firm with expertise in developing a business strategy for small business owners, you can trust that you’re receiving the very best professional advice.

But best of all, you won’t have to pay the normal excessive costs associated with receiving a premium service. So let Propeller Advisory help map out your road to business success.