Strategy made easy for business owners
Louisa van Vessem continues our guest blog series. Once a month, we’ll be sharing a guest blog post from an industry expert. Louisa is a strategic partner and mentor for business owners and professionals. She is creative, strategic, analytical, and pragmatic and uses those strengths to untangle minds. In return, she offers clarity, direction, strategy and accountability to help take you from where you are right now to where you want to be. She also runs a brilliant and welcoming online community called InclUSion, offering a fun and safe space for business owners and professionals.
In this post, Louisa delves into how to build strategy into your business (even if you don’t like the word ‘strategy’) and leaves us with 7 extra tips!
As a business owner, when you hear the word strategy, how does it make you feel?
From my experience of talking with business owners, thinking about the detail, how it all connects and how it feeds into the bigger picture is often an afterthought. This is because it's not as thrilling as coming up with new ideas and working on projects that excite you.
But here are some questions to ask yourself:
how often do you get carried away with coming up with ideas but never explore them?
how often do you become hyper-focused and lose track of time?
how often do you jump from one idea to the next?
how often do you explore your thoughts and ideas with intent?
If any of those questions resonate with you, you're not alone.
Avoiding strategy
It might surprise you to hear that lots of business owners don’t work strategically. There are a number of different reasons for this and they include:
They don’t have a business background. This might be because they have retrained or they’ve turned a hobby/interest into a business.
They don’t know where to start and it feels overwhelming. Thus far, their business is working well and it’s growing organically and so they don’t feel they need one.
A fear that strategies limit creativity but what actually happens is the opposite. Having the right strategies in place creates a framework for you to thrive and it can enhance your creativity and maximise its impact.
The difference strategic thinking makes
You probably think having a strategy is restrictive and rigid but thinking strategically can make a world of difference for you. When you switch your mindset to thinking strategically, you look at things differently, make informed decisions and achieve greater success. It enables you to identify opportunities, pick up on potential stumbling blocks and create plans aligned with how you think. It's about working with intent and understanding why.
My approach to creating strategies and thinking strategically varies greatly. It depends on what I'm looking to achieve but quite often when I want to create a strategy, it will start with a mind map.
The benefits of mind mapping
When your mind is buzzing with lots of thoughts and ideas and it becomes hard to see the wood for the trees. This is why thinking and working with intent is a huge positive. Mind mapping makes a difference because it helps you visualise your thoughts and ideas and it can even enhance your creativity.
My method is always to use coloured pens and plain paper because using coloured pens for different categories makes it easier for reviewing the information and if I ever try using lined or squared paper, it feels restrictive. With plain paper, thoughts come out freely.
Mind mapping for beginners
A good starting point for mind mapping is to transfer everything that's in your head right now and transfer it to paper, I'm talking personally and professionally. This is a really important exercise to do because you'll be surprised at what falls out because you don't realise how much is consuming your headspace.
You can either create two separate mind maps or one with both personal and professional thoughts and ideas on it. Write your name in the centre of the paper and create branches off of it, use colours for different categories and continue to explore. Revisit the mind map a couple of days later and see what else you want to add to it and think about what is on there… what matters and what’s taking up noise/headspace.
Strategy made easy for business owners
Use a mind map or if mind maps don't work for you, try using lists and/or a spreadsheet if it's easier.
Think about your goal and what you're wanting to achieve and this is where you need to think about the who, where, what, when, why and how.
This is the starting point of exploring how viable an idea is and what you need to consider because this approach helps analyse and identify everything that is required for your goals.
Once you've answered the who, where, what, when, why and how and you know what's involved, focus on the end result and now work backwards. Think about what needs to happen to make your idea a reality, when activities need to happen and then set reminders in your diary.
Another great approach is to time block. This involves looking at your week and blocking out time but I often recommend blocking out time that aligns with days and hours that work best for you. For example, if you're not a Monday morning person, that's probably not the best time to work on something. So choose days and times based on your mindset and how it makes you feel.
Time blocking is also great for overcoming distractions and avoiding becoming too hyper-focused and losing track of time. Taking this approach and setting goals will help you make significant progress on your projects.
Implementing your strategy
If budget allows, you don’t need to do it all on your own. Working with someone like me can really help give you the clarity and direction you need to get started, as well as the accountability should you need it. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees and if you don’t know where to start, it can be hugely beneficial to get support.
Working with Bloom Creative will give you the creative support for bringing your ideas to life in terms of the visual representation and how it all feeds into your brand.
Virtual Assistants, copywriters and proofreaders can really help with the implementation of your new ideas by providing done-for-you services. This is perfect for those tasks that might not play to your strengths and can lead to procrastination, something we all want to avoid.
What else can business owners do to overcome challenges?
Set clear priorities: Define your goals and prioritise them. Don't choose to do all your favourite tasks and projects first because otherwise by the time you get to what you don't enjoy, you're more likely to procrastinate and get distracted and break your goals down into bite-size chunks.
Practice time blocking: Start dedicating blocks of time for specific tasks and projects. Figure out what time frames work for you and remember, this doesn't have to be rigid because life isn't like that. You might prefer shorter bursts of time for some tasks and dedicated periods for when you need to really focus.
Ditch distractions: Turn notifications off or put your phone in another room.
Create new habits: Establish a routine that works for you. Have set times for creative moments, breaks and other activities. Have a structure that encourages productivity and minimises getting lost in time.
Your environment: Think about what type of environment works best for you. Do you prefer to work in silence or are you better with background noise such as music or a podcast? Make sure you have the right lighting and you feel comfortable - warm or cold. Make sure you have appropriate drinks and snacks.
Virtual co-working: You could do this with a business friend or join a formal co-working session. At the start of the session, you say what you are working on and at the end of the session, you give an update on what you completed.
Find an accountability partner: You can do this informally with a business friend or choose a professional to check in with you. Share your goals and agree on how often you’re going to meet to provide updates on what you have accomplished. You can also use this time to discuss any challenges you are facing.
Remember, being strategic isn't about stifling your creativity and ideas. It's about nurturing them and achieving success on your terms.
Helpful Resource (freebie!)
Louisa has a free resource called Make Your Vision A Reality AND Transform Your World, this acts as a great starting point for using mind mapping. It also helps with identifying your goals for the next 3-6 months.
🔗 You can connect with Louisa on LinkedIn, visit her website, or email louisa@ingeniouscorner.com
👀 Watch this space for more Guest Blogs throughout the year! If you’re interested in writing a guest post for The Bloom Blog, get in touch.
Bloom Creative is a design business based in Kent offering branding & brand refreshes, quality digital design, and eye-catching print design. You can browse our services or book in a free discovery call.
