We have about 30 people, profitable, growing slowly (over $4M ARR today). For years I thought I had a strategy. I had a document with our mission, our values, and a list of priorities for the year. Maybe 15 items on there.
Then I read Richard Rumelt's "Good Strategy / Bad Strategy" and realized none of that was strategy. Below are some thoughts from my own experience & how the book applied to my business. I recommend reading the book.
Rumelt says a real strategy has three parts. A diagnosis, which is identifying what challenge you're actually facing. A guiding policy, which is one clear approach for dealing with that challenge. And coherent actions that all support the policy. That's it.
Most founders I talk to skip the diagnosis entirely. We jump straight to goals. "Grow revenue 30%." "Improve retention." We call that strategy but it's really just a to-do list.
‘A guiding policy’ means saying no to things. It means focus, which is the opposite of what we all want to do. If your strategy doesn't kill options, it's not a strategy. I had 15 priorities, which really means I had zero. When everything is a priority, you just react to whatever feels urgent that week.
Focus is easy to talk about but so damn difficult to actually have. Who wants to work on the same thing for a year or two?
What helped though is to realize that I don’t focus, I’m just going to be mediocre at everything, and eventually lose to my competitors. Then focus becomes about survival, and that’s when you actually take it serious.
Focus thy ass, gentlemen