Unlocking Growth: Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Business Strategy

Let’s put things in perspective: 30% of small businesses fail within their first two years. By year five, that number rises to 50%, and by year ten, a staggering 70% have closed their doors. Why is this the case?

The primary reason is that most small businesses lack a clear, actionable strategy that everyone understands and can implement. This gap between vision and execution is critical, and it’s where many businesses falter.

Many small businesses either operate without a formal strategy or fail to translate their vision into daily actions. Even fewer ensure that their teams are aligned and equipped to execute the plan.

In fact, only about 33–40% of small businesses have a documented strategy, and an alarming 90% of those strategies fail during execution. Even when a vision is in place, just 25% of businesses align their goals and operations to support it, and only 5% of employees truly understand their company’s strategy.

Growth isn’t just about having a plan. It’s about ensuring your team knows what matters, why it matters, and how to make it happen—every single day.

The Goal

My goal is to provide you with a practical framework for building, aligning, and executing a business strategy that drives tangible results. The focus is on crafting a strategy that is actionable, measurable, and sustainable, ensuring lasting success.

The following framework is a simple, disciplined approach—inspired by Dan Cremon's “Winning Moves”—that aligns priorities, actions, and culture. If you prioritize the right inputs, such as mindset and culture, and measure what truly counts, you can lead with purpose and adaptability.

Having explored many different approaches over the years, I believe this is the best. It is simple and easy to implement, helping you develop a strategy that is sustainable and executable.

Step-by-Step: The Small Business Strategy Framework

Here’s the framework that cuts through the noise and gets results:

The Power of the Right Inputs

The quality of your results is directly tied to the quality and alignment of your efforts, resources, and—crucially—your intangible inputs like mindset, culture, and character. These “secret sauce” elements often separate high-performing businesses from the rest.

PRO TIP:

The greatest intangible asset in your business is your mindset. All successful business owners embody a growth mindset, welcome change, and take calculated risks. They are unafraid of discomfort and do not need to be the smartest person in the room.

Furthermore, they maintain a consistent sense of healthy urgency to focus on what matters the most to move the business forward. They also recognize the importance of self-awareness and continually work on enhancing their leadership skills. By developing a strong mindset, you can cultivate success in every aspect of your business.

Intangible Inputs: The Secret Sauce

• Mindset: Cultivate a growth mindset. Believe that you and your team can get better with effort and learning.

  
  

• Character and Culture: Build a values-driven culture that aligns your team and supports innovation.

  
  

• Embracing Change: Growth means stepping outside your comfort zone and challenging the status quo.

  
  

• Daily Execution: Strategy only matters if it’s executed—consistently, with clear accountability.

  
  

Putting the Framework to Work: Real-World Examples

Example 1: Service Business Boosts Customer Retention

• Business Priority: Improve customer retention

• Value Driver: Customer satisfaction and loyalty

• Objective: Increase retention by 10% in 12 months

• Key Actions: Launch onboarding program, conduct quarterly feedback reviews, train staff on service excellence

• KPIs: Retention rate, Net Promoter Score (NPS), complaints resolved within 48 hours

  
  

Secret Sauce: Growth mindset, customer-centric culture, openness to feedback, daily execution

Outputs: Higher retention, improved reputation, increased revenue

Example 2: Reducing Employee Turnover

• Business Priority: Reduce turnover to maintain productivity

• Value Driver: Employee engagement and satisfaction

• Objective: Decrease voluntary turnover by 15% in 12 months

• Key Actions: Launch mentorship, offer flexible work, conduct “stay interviews”

• KPIs: Turnover rate, employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), internal promotion rate

  
  

Secret Sauce: Growth mindset, culture of recognition, weekly manager check-ins

Outputs: Lower recruitment costs, stronger team cohesion, higher customer satisfaction

Example 3: Increasing Sales

• Business Priority: Grow revenue by expanding market share

• Value Driver: Customer acquisition and conversion rate

• Objective: Achieve 20% sales growth in 6 months

• Key Actions: Lead generation and conversion optimization

• KPIs: New leads generated, conversion rate

  
  

Secret Sauce: Embracing change, execution focus, customer-centric culture

Outputs: Higher revenue, improved lifetime value, stronger brand visibility

Key Actions Breakdown

Every key action should be divided into manageable steps that can be addressed daily. This is the key to effectively executing a strategic plan. We will explore this further and discuss how to do this in the next article.

Execution and Measurement: The Missing Link

• KPIs must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.

• Regular Reviews: Monitor KPIs monthly or quarterly; adjust actions as needed.

• Leadership and Feedback: Owners and leaders should seek feedback, adapt their style, and keep everyone clear on priorities and progress.

  
  

Summary Checklist: Your Strategy Roadmap

Focus on 3-5 clear business priorities to keep things simple. Use these priorities as a foundation to begin your planning process. Remember, you don’t need to tackle everything at once—start small by concentrating on one area. Taking that first step is what matters most.

• Define your business priorities: What is critical for success?

• Define your value driver: What will you impact?

• Define your objective: What will you deliver?

• Define your key actions: What will you do?

• Define your KPI: How will you know you are successful?

  
  

Don't Neglect the Secret Sauce

• Invest in intangible inputs: growth mindset, strong culture, and adaptability.

• Review, adapt, and improve continuously.

The Bottom Line

Planning is only the first step. The real differentiator is execution—aligning your team and operations around what matters most, tracking progress, and adapting as you go.

Most businesses fail not because they lack vision, but because they don’t translate that vision into daily action and culture. Use this framework, invest in your “secret sauce,” and unlock the growth you’re aiming for.

If you’re ready to rethink how to approach business growth, start by tuning into The Pursuit of Value Podcast. Each episode dives into practical strategies for SMEs, featuring insights and advice that empower you to make better business decisions.

In the next article, we will look at how to execute your business strategy daily.