Excerpted from
FastTrac® GrowthVenture™
Monitoring Your Business Strategy
Designing a business strategy is not a one-time job. Significant changes in the market
place may create a need to alter your business strategy in order to reach your growth
goals. Your strategy, therefore, must be continually refined as new information becomes
available. The quicker you anticipate these changes in your market, the better off your
business will be.
By establishing a routine way to monitor your business strategy—let’s call it a business
barometer—you can define strategic choices for your business based on the newest
research available.
© 2006 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Setting Direction
Monitoring You Business Strategy
The following steps will create a business barometer that can alert you to changes in the
landscape and the need to re-position your business for a sustainable future:
Step 1 Determine current and emerging market needs. Make a list of macro and micro
trends—those outside of your industry and those that are specific to your industry—that
are occurring in the marketplace. Be as specific as possible.
EXAMPLE
Macro trends – 72 million baby boomers reaching retirement from 2007-2027
Micro trends – Elder care facilities have nursing shortages due to fewer
entering the field, Medicaid decreases
Macro trends –
Micro trends –
Step 2 Identify possible impact to your business. Define which trends may
directly or indirectly impact your business or its ability to compete. Be as specific
as possible.
EXAMPLE
Elder care facilities – More baby boomers interested in senior services, more
home and community-based models for providing senior care, private pay for
services not reimbursed by the government
© 2006 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Setting Direction
Monitoring You Business Strategy
Step 3 Consider your response to market changes. Determine how you would respond
to market changes and ensure that your company can continue to compete. Be as
specific as possible.
EXAMPLE
Elder care facilities – Invest in technology to do more with fewer resources;
expand senior care services without “walls”; develop strategic alliances with
competitors and complementary services.
Step 4 Refine your business strategy to position the company for success. Evaluate
your current strategy and those of your competitors. Refine your strategy to use your
company’s strengths, meet the needs of your market, and achieve your personal and
business goals.
EXAMPLE
Our elder care facility, like our competitors, struggles with the nursing
shortage and the high costs of caring for our residents. Expanding our
services to include different levels of care (adding assisted living and adult
day care services) will target customers who require less care (less need for
nurses and lower costs) and fits well with our strengths. This will also create
a source of residents for our skilled-level care as the new customers advance
in age. For all services, increasing the use of computer monitoring and
communicating with the residents will increase responsiveness to residents
while reducing the demands on the nursing staff....
© 2006 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Setting Direction
Monitoring You Business Strategy
Step 5 Determine ongoing factors that affect the future forecast and how to monitor
them. Identify factors that would measure internal and external changes and where you
might find this information. Be as specific as possible.
EXAMPLE
Elder care facilities research sources: Industry trade association – trade
journals, newsletters, and shows; national newspapers and magazines;
financial statement guides, such as D & B and RMA
© 2006 Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. All Rights Reserved.