Gary Dean is managing director of strategic consultancy The Truffle Pig Consulting Co and has over 30 years’ experience working in the glass, glazing and glass hardware industry. In the first of a new series of columns for Glass Times magazine, he shares some expert insight into what makes a good business strategy.

So, I am calling myself, amongst other things, a strategic consultant. What’s that about?

The idea of a strategy for many small and even medium size businesses can often seem a bit highbrow. It’s ‘not something we do – it’s something those big boys do who have the people and the money’.

Let me share with you that without a basic strategy, one that focuses on answering questions such as ‘who are we?’, ‘where do we want to be?’, ‘how do we get there?’, ‘what makes us important to our customers and how to we communicate that?’, you and your business will only be bouncing from one idea or problem to the next.

Some reading this might say ‘we know all that’. But knowing a thing doesn’t mean you are doing a thing; and doing is the only thing that matters.

Good strategy nearly always looks simple, even obvious, and that’s because in hindsight it always is. However, too often it’s confused with ‘vision’, or ‘mission’, or ‘planning’ when in fact I think it’s none of these.

In principle, the core of strategic work seems always the same to me; discovering the critical factors that shape your business and your business opportunities, and designing ways to action activities that deal with those factors. Over this article and many more in the future I will talk about action often, because driving home the fact that it is only action that can change anything is key.

Sadly, experience shows that good strategy is the exception not the rule. ‘Let’s be the best’ is not a strategy, nor is ambition, determination or innovation, though all are significant to success – success is not a strategy, it’s a result.

I would propose that a good strategy is essentially a logical structure of diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions. Neither is strategy an exercise in just setting goals because without a coherent action plan, that is little more than wishful thinking.

To start you thinking about and embracing good strategies, here are some thoughts. They are not exhaustive, but enough for this first article on strategic thinking.

A good strategy often arises because most of your competitors have not got one. Yes, they might have goals they would like to reach, but often that’s the best they can articulate. With a basic clear strategy – which includes actions – you are already ahead of the game, so it’s worth the investment, trust me.

Be intelligent; examine every idea carefully and be happy to say ‘no’ or to quit things that are not working. Strategy is at least as much about what you don’t do as about what you do. Drop things that don’t work and celebrate you recognised this rather than beat yourself up over what you think was wasted time and money – it was only an investment on the journey to lead to a clearer strategy for your business.

Don’t stick to conventional thinking if you believe a different way will bring you benefits. Shifting perspective is the driving force of what is now known as industry disruptors – just ensure that you create more than a good idea, because without action it will always just be an idea.

Don’t tolerate fluff from either yourself or your team. Fluff is superficially stating (often with buzz words) the obvious, so try and be wise enough to cut through fluff to get to the things that matter and can be acted upon. Substance is everything.

Be honest, a list of bullet points are not strategies. Though they might look nice, ensure your strategy can be realized. Knowing what you can or cannot do and how far you can push yourself will avoid bad strategic decisions.

Don’t be overly ambitious, channel your energy and resources into a handful of the most attractive opportunities and action your focused strategies well on each. These are your pivot points that will pay back your efforts the best.

Focus is strategy and for focus you need to make choices, so invest in time in choosing well.

Think about your positioning carefully, your business cannot be everything to everyone, so identify where you fit and shape your strategy around that alone.

And remember, financial goals are not strategies, they are results. Only creativity can sow the seeds to grow the plants from which the bean-counters count the beans.

Have fun thinking about your strategy, but then get to work on it.