While sitting outside writing the other day, I noticed a couple of finches near my birdfeeders.
Those of you who have birdfeeders know that finches enjoy their own food, different from what I feed everyone else so competition wasn’t the problem.
The issue was that my “big girl” Sasha (black lab/rotti mix) was sniffing around the feeders.
One finch sat on a branch close to the feeder and flew in for bites whenever Sasha roamed away. He stayed close, was focused on his goal and kept getting satisfying bites.
The other finch however, flit about from branch to branch vaguely watching the feeder (or Sasha) as other things caught his attention.
When Sasha roamed and he could easily swoop in for a nibble, he always ended up being too far away and missed the opportunity. You could almost feel his frustration.
If only he’d been strategically implementing. . .
So what exactly IS “Strategic Implementation”?
It’s generally defined as:
• A process by which strategies and policies are put into action through the development of programs, budgets, and procedures and
• The methods by which strategies are operationalized or executed within the organization; it focuses on the processes through which strategies are achieved.
WOW — let’s put that in “small business lingo” shall we. . .it’s strategically (meaning “eye on long term goal”) creating and implementing (meaning “getting stuff DONE!”) your marketing funnel by developing systems to streamline the entire process (meaning “work smarter, not harder).
And without the Corporate language: Strategic Implementation means. “While keeping your eye on the long term goal, work as smartly as possible to get stuff done.”
Sounds easy enough so why are most small businesses struggling?
Quite simply, many business owners are implementing just for the sake of implementing and being busy.
They’ve no idea HOW to strategically implement. So what should you do if you’re in this rut, and likely don’t even realize it?
Make It Real: My Request to You
If you’re in the mode of being “busy” rather than “effectively productive”, you’ll want to stop what you’re doing RIGHT NOW, grab a pen and paper (no computer) and do the following:
1. Write down WHY you’re in business — not your mission to help others, but what is your business going to do FOR YOU.
2. Write it again.
3. And again.
4. Now write down what you did today that will bring you closer to THAT goal.
If this exercise served as a quick wake up call, you’ll want to reassess how you spend your days and find ways to outsource or delete the rest so that you can maintain focused implementation on those items which pull you ever closer to your goal.