Solid business strategy will always be important in the ever-evolving market, but today’s competitive landscape has changed dramatically. New threats and opportunities are emerging constantly. So how do you design a strategy that not only meets your business objectives but also sets you up for long-term success? J.B. Fowler, vice president of integrator solutions for Domotz, a network and infrastructure monitoring provider, gave ChannelCon 2024 attendees a roadmap for navigating new landscapes, and moving through them successfully.
PESTLE Framework for Understanding the Landscape
A good place to start is with the PESTLE framework. PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors—external forces that can significantly impact your business. The CompTIA 2024 State of the Channel Report provides valuable insights into some of these external factors. Here are some examples of how data points from this resource can inform how to think about business strategy:
- Economic: Global economic uncertainty, inflation and interest rates are major concerns for many channel firms, with 49% citing these as top inhibitors to growth.
- Social: 63% of channel companies report their business is in better shape than two years ago, indicating post-pandemic recovery and adaptation.
- Technological: 47% of channel firms plan to sell generative AI-based solutions in 2024, reflecting the growing demand for AI integration into business services.
- Legal: A 51% increasing demand for cybersecurity services underscores growing compliance and regulatory pressures around data protection.
Clearly, a wide range of external factors influence business. By using the PESTLE framework, you can assess these influences and understand how they might affect your strategic goals.
Identifying Threats and Opportunities
As you map out your strategy, you’ll also need to assess the specific threats and opportunities that your business faces. Common threats today include competition from online marketplaces, vendors going direct and non-traditional players entering the field. Meanwhile, some key opportunities include cloud migration, process automation, security compliance and data management.
Some opportunities are complex. “Layering AI and modern digital operations is likely to drive significant economic disruption in the years and decades to come,” Fowler said. Yet this disruption represents both a threat and an opportunity for businesses. To stay ahead, you’ll need to think about how these technologies can enhance your offerings, improve operational efficiency and meet customer needs. This isn't just about adopting new tech—it’s about integrating it into your strategy.
What works for one company may not work for another. “What threats or opportunities are out there really depends on your business, but you need to be creating a framework you can use to assess where you are today,” Fowler said.
Building a Strategic Plan
Once you’ve assessed your external environment and identified your opportunities, the next step is to build a strategic plan. A strategy is not simply offering a new service or jumping on a trend. Rather, it’s a well-thought-out plan of action designed to achieve major business goals.
“If you can’t articulate your strategy in just a few words to your customers, it’s going to be really hard for them to understand what you can do for them and how you’re going to do that,” Flower said. Your strategy should provide a clear roadmap for your team, aligning everyone in your organization toward common goals.
Start by identifying your business objectives—these could be anything from profitable growth to enhancing client experience. From there, you can develop SMART goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. This framework ensures that your goals are both practical and trackable, providing a solid foundation for success.
One of the more challenging aspects of creating SMART goals is understanding the time-bound element. “One of the more challenging parts of this is understanding the time-bound aspects of these goals,” says Fowler. Make sure you set realistic timelines for achieving your objectives to maintain focus and accountability.
Implementing and Measuring Your Strategy
With your strategic plan in place, the next step is implementation. This is where many businesses falter, and great ideas can fail due to poor execution. To avoid this, break your plan down into manageable actions, focusing on one strategic initiative at a time.
Fowler suggested using a one-page strategy document. This simple yet powerful tool outlines your goals, the actions needed to achieve them, and a quarter-by-quarter timeline for implementation. It can be used at both the corporate and individual business level, making it a versatile tool for strategic planning.
He also stressed the importance of ensuring that your team is on the same page. “You want to make sure that if you’re gone for a week and a decision comes up that an employee has to make, you want them to be thinking about how that fits in the strategy, and how it’s going to impact the business and customers.” Essentially, your strategy needs to be ingrained in the company culture.
The Role of Culture in Strategic Success
Company culture plays a critical role in the success of any strategy. To truly align your organization, you need to establish cultural anchors like mission, vision and values. Fowler shared an example of what happens when these elements are missing.
“I worked at a company that it took them multiple years to create a mission and vision statement,” he said. “It pained me greatly because we’d make a decision, and then the CEO would come back and say that didn’t align with his thinking. But his thinking wasn’t on paper.”Without clearly defined cultural values, your team may struggle to make decisions that align with your strategic objectives.
Fowler’s example underscores how designing a business strategy in today’s competitive landscape requires more than just adopting the latest technology or reacting to market trends. It involves a careful analysis of external factors, a clear understanding of your business objectives and a commitment to aligning your team around a shared vision. By following the PESTLE framework, defining opportunities and threats, and developing clear, actionable goals, you can create a strategic plan that drives your business forward.
But move wisely. The key to success isn’t just having a plan; it’s implementing it effectively, measuring progress and making adjustments as needed. Fowler advised, “Do one strategic action at a time.” That way, you’re taking sure-footed steps on the road to success.
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