A business development strategy is a document that describes the strategy you will use to accomplish that goal. The scope of business development can be wide ranging and vary a lot from organization to organization.
The strategic development process is defined here to embrace the management processes that inform, shape and support the strategic decisions confronting an organization. We use the term ‘strategic development’ for a number of reasons. Firstly, we see strategy formulation and implementation as inseparable activities in which every organization engages on a continuous basis, so the idea of ongoing development is central to our thinking. Secondly, the widely used term ‘strategic planning’ has become debased by association with the creation of deterministic, one-shot 5-and 10-year plans: for us this suggests an unhelpful rigidity in thinking about the future. Thirdly, ‘strategic management’ is too loose a term to describe the emphasis that we wish to place here upon reflective engagement and analytical questioning that characterizes the approaches: nor does that term suggest the same focus upon the development of the organization. Strategic decisions, the focus of the strategic development process, do not form a distinct category at one extreme of some imagined spectrum leading from tactical, through operational to strategic decisions. Rather, there is a set of characteristics that lead towards a decision being labelled as ‘strategic’. These characteristics include the following:
• Breadth of scope and therefore of implications right across and beyond the organisation.
• Complexity and inter-relatedness of decision-making context, demanding integrated treatment.
To plan an effective business strategy below checklist provides a framework for thinking about and developing it. It is based broadly on established processes of analysis, choice and implementation.
1. Understand the current position
2. Reflect on how you got there
3. Be clear about your corporate identity (mission, vision and values)
4. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses
5. Analyze the business environment
6. Identify and evaluate strategic options
7. Set objectives
8. Communicate the strategy
9. Implement the strategy
10. Review progress