The Million-Pound Business Checklist Every Leader Needs

All leaders in strategy rely on checklists, not because we don't know what we're doing, after all we are leaders in strategy, but because strategy work is difficult, there are competing priorities and let's be honest, we're all really good at overlooking the obvious when stakes are high and matters are complex. Our Mike Harris and I help businesses to successfully grow their turnover and profit. In the last year alone I have helped dozens of businesses at least double in size and I work with small, medium and large businesses including startups and multi-nationals. As you know my day job is advising clients on how to develop a winning strategy and business plan and I often get asked to assess a company's current strategy and whether it's fit for purpose. This is something I normally charge thousands of pounds for, but don't tell them, but I've decided to share my approach for free. That's right for free. So welcome to my million pound strategy checklist. The approach I take to establish the qualities of company's strategy and help them add millions of pounds to their bottom line. And if you stay to the end you'll learn how you too can get exclusive advice, which will catapult your career and business to you heights. So let's start by answering the obvious question, why do we need a checklist? Well all leaders in strategy rely on checklist, not because we don't know what we're doing, after all we are leaders in strategy, but because strategy work is difficult, they are competing priorities and let's be honest, we're all really good at overlooking the obvious when stakes are high and matters are complex. A checklist does three critical things. It forces clarity. None of us can hide behind indecision or industry jargon. It exposes assumptions, what I call believing your own bullshit. And lastly it creates consistency. So whether you're a startup founder, a small business owner or corporate executive, these 10 point forming universal quality bar. So as I say, I use this checklist when I'm working with clients to assess their existing strategy. And I start by asking the question, what problems are we solving? Not in vague terms, but in concrete measurable terms. So when I do this I'm looking out for certain red flags. And in this case the red flag I regularly see is vague aspirations like we need to modernize or we must innovate. We want to be the biggest or we want to be the best. What I actually need to see and therefore what I'm hoping to find is this, that the problem is clearly defined with data, scope and impact. Strategy is not a list of goals. It's not a catalogue of nice things to do. Strategy is about making a choice. So next I look at what are the difficult choices that my customers are making. So the red flag would be if your strategy document looks as if it could be long to any company in your sector. And what I'm actually looking for is what you are committing to. And maybe more importantly what you explicitly not going to do. A strategy must answer how will we actually create value. And I'm not talking about a slogan or a catch phrase or riddles which I often see with customers. But in defined terms that are clear. So red flag would be if I see phrases like in hearts, his synergies or drives transformation or unlocks potential. Because without any explanation those phrases are meaningless. But what I am hoping to see is a detailed cause and effect logic that sits behind the strategy. This episode is sponsored by Strategist Consulting, Expert Business and Leadership Consultancy for everyday businesses and professionals. What if the key to your business's next growth phase isn't a mystery by the proven process? Is your business at the ceiling with profits flat, daily chaos and scaling up, feeling like a risky leap? You're not alone and you don't have to solve it alone. Strategist Consulting is your partner for structured transformative growth. Led by my carers, a proven strategist and project manager with expertise in scaling businesses, bid management and delivering results. We provide clarity through our call service, the business review workshop. This isn't just advice. It's a deep dive analysis that delivers a clear actionable roadmap. We identify your bottlenecks, uncover hidden opportunities and give you the precise steps to move from stuck to strategic execution. Visit www.strategistconsulting.co.uk now and transform your business trajectory. Next I'm looking at the external environment that the business is working with in. You cannot strategize your competition if you don't understand what they're doing. So a strong strategy should show insight into your customers' behaviors, your competitors, any regulations that impact on what you do. Any substitutes that might exist out in the market, are there any technological shifts that are taking place? Now a red flag when I'm looking at this is that I see a thick document, 90 pages plus of data but with no insight because data is not information. You can compile lots and lots of data but if it's not analysed and it doesn't really explain what you're going to do, it's useless. So what I'm actually looking for is one external forces truly shape that business's ability to win. Great strategies are grounded reality not in hope. This is where organizations fail most because I said earlier this is where they believe in their own bullshit. So a red flag is where decisions are based on capabilities that leaders which they had, not necessarily what they actually have. So what I'm looking for is the business clear on their real capabilities, constraints, the culture and their capability. Next is having focus priorities. An excellent strategy is ruthless in its focus with three to five non-negotiable priorities, no more. A red flag to me is when I see a strategy with seven or ten or twenty priorities because this isn't a strategy, this is just a to-do list. What I'm actually looking for is this, if the resources in the business were cut in half, would the priorities stay the same? And if the answer is yes, then you have the right priorities. Actions then is where the strategy becomes execution. These actions must reinforce each other, align directly with the choices that we spoke about earlier and advance that value creation. So a red flag is where we have initiatives that are sort of static, uncoordinated and don't help to achieve the strategy. So what am I looking for? Well, in the words of Steve Redgrave, I'm looking for actions that make the boat go faster. A realistic resource and capability plan is absolutely essential because a strategy with zero resources is not a strategy, it's just a wish list. This is what I call having the right people in the right place at the right time. So a red flag for me is where we have budgets that have just been evenly spread out across the department because they don't want to upset anybody. What I'm looking for is the explicit decisions about where resources will and maybe more importantly will not be allocated in order to achieve the strategy. We all know the phrase what gets measured gets managed. In other words, when you track something, people focus on it and it gets done. Therefore metrics transform strategy from the abstract into the actionable. And what you need is this outcome metrics. In other words, what are you going to achieve? Leading indicators are you on the right track and learning checkpoints where you can check in to make sure that you're doing the right things. Learn the lessons and implement those across the business. So a red flag would be where there are only top line metrics like turnover or EBITDA because these are too slow and too vague from a point of view of tracking progress against your strategy. What I'm looking for is measures that reflect real progress against those strategic outcomes. And lastly, what we need is a strategy story that people remember. This one is what I think is the secret ingredient. A strategy will fail if nobody can remember it. It doesn't matter how good it is. If people walk out the room and they forget it, he might as well not have the strategy in the first place. So great leaders, leaders and strategy will create a simple narrative. Where are we going? Why does it matter? How will we win? And what part does everybody play? So for me, a red flag is a strategy that is explained in a set of slides, not a story. So what I'm looking for is how the employee can explain the strategy. to somebody else over coffee in 30 seconds. That to me is a great strategic story. So there you have it. I hope you've enjoyed it. This is my 10.000,000 pound strategy checklist which I use across all my clients when I'm assessing their current strategy. One, the first thing we look at is the problem being solved. Two, the difficult choices that the business is making. Three, the value that's been traded for their customers. Four, the external forces shaping their ability to win. Five, an internal assessment. Six, focus non-negotiable priorities. Seven, a coordinated action plan. Eight, realistic resource and capability plan. Nine, a clear measure of success. And finally, 10, a strategy story. So what I then do with the checklist is I score the strategy from one to five against each of those points. Where one to two is high risk. Three, it's adequate but fragile. Four, the strategy is strong. Five, it's excellent and robust. And then totaling up those scores, I then mark overall the strategy out of 50. And where it's a score of 30 or less, the strategy needs restructuring. Where it's 35 to 40, it's strong but still has some vulnerabilities. And if it's 45 or over, then it's an excellent strategy that just needs to be kept refining. As you know, I like to set some homework. So this is the homework for today. Print off the checklist, which is available from our Patreon to Download. And then bring your senior team together. Score your current strategy, identify the three biggest gaps and assign an owner to each of those gaps. This exercise will transform the clarity and confidence that sits behind your strategy. And if you want a detailed deep dive, you might consider using an external consultant. And if you do, let me know. As you can see, I've got a lot of experience in this. Now for ongoing support, join our new Patreon community. Subscribe for exclusive content from the leaders in strategy podcasts, downloadable resources like our annual business plan checklist and access to a four business course. As a member, you'll get discounted rates on one-to-one workshops, which has to have your business questions answered and featured in Special Monthly August episodes. Let's strategize and let's execute. Join our Patreon now and become a leader in strategy yourself. So that's it for today. Thank you for joining me. And you come back again soon where we'll have another great episode with a special guest looking at how to maximize your business. I'll see you then. [BLANK_AUDIO]