Entrepreneurial companies are unique in their strategic circumstance. Unlike the big companies, they are restricted in both time and money – they do not have unlimited resources! Therefore, they must be laser-focused on what they choose to purse in their strategy. Ventrek first recommends conducting a detailed analysis prior to setting a strategy. Then, entrepreneurs must establish their 5-Year Mission which is a concrete goal the company is aspiring to.

Once those two critical items are completed, it’s time to craft a powerful strategy. To help with this, Ventrek has curated and created the “10 Entrepreneurial Strategies” based on years and years of working with entrepreneurial teams and uncovering what works and what does when it comes to entrepreneurial strategy. It is impossible to pursue all 10 strategies in one year – entrepreneurial teams must choose carefully which of the 10 strategies to purse in a given year. We recommend no more than approximately three in any given year – you must stay focused in your strategy. Remember, in the entrepreneurial world, choosing what not to do in strategy is as important as in choosing what to do. 

If we look at the diagram, we can see 10 major strategies to choose from…

  1. Activity Strategy
  2. People Strategy
  3. Customer Strategy
  4. Market Strategy
  5. Product/Service Strategy
  6. Innovation Strategy
  7. ESG Strategy
  8. Image Strategy
  9. Partner Strategy
  10. Financial Strategy

This is important: just because you do not choose one from the above list does not mean you will do nothing in that area! It simply means you will not devote strategic resources to advancing that item. That item will be “business as usual” and we will not undertake any special initiatives or projects within that bucket this year. Think of it like a watermark: it is established and we will not lower the market, rather, we will maintain it over the year.

For those items you do choose, they will consume strategic time and money to advance over the year. This is why it is so critical to stay focused on only a few each year.