The opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
“One of the biggest problems with strategy is that the company doesn’t have one.” It is common to read this phrase in articles that aim to identify why a business strategy isn’t working.
Yet, every company has a strategy because strategy is about choices and the team makes choices every day. The problem is that the choices they make don’t advance the business.
Effective teams make thoughtful choices so that every action the company takes results in delivering the value the company intends to deliver.
Related: 7 Strategies Businesses Can Use to Be Profitable and Sustainable
Seven common but ineffective business strategies
Whether you are consciously aware of it or not, you make choices based on something. That something and your choices serve as strategy. Here are seven common but ineffective strategies you may have inadvertently adopted:
1. You are responsive
Whether it’s a new idea, a raging fire, or the ping in your inbox, choose to act on what strikes you in that moment. I made the mistake of saying that these types of teams are not strategic when I meant that they are not deliberate. You’re probably pedaling full steam ahead but getting nowhere.
2. Do what you want to do
Build what you want to build. The quintessential example is a robotics company that wanted to build X even though all the input they received from customers told them they needed Y. The company continued to build X because that’s what it wanted to build. Now they no longer exist. If you are the only one collecting value, you have a hobby, not a job.
3. Do what you’ve always done
You know the approach works. You feel comfortable doing it. And you decidedly I don’t want the stress of changing it. So keep moving forward. Unfortunately, too many businesses no longer exist because they have failed to evolve. You have to adapt what you do and how you do it because the world is always changing.
4. Chase the interesting new thing
Every day brings new priorities that start with emails like “Find out how Cold this is. We should do it.” Sometimes, you start a new thing because you enjoy creating. Sometimes, you do it because the new thing is simply more exciting than doing the hard work you actually have to do. Just like a reactive strategy, your team finds it difficult gain ground or calm their spinning heads.
5. Spend as little money as possible
You analyze each investment looking for the cheapest option, including what could be done for free. Slowly, sometimes glacially, no one wants to work on your team and your company loses all the resources it needs to do anything.
6. Chase the money
You see a way to get a lot of money in the short term, so you immediately commit to that direction. It doesn’t matter what you were doing before. It doesn’t matter that you (somehow) want team members to continue doing those things too. If you can put a check in the bank today, you’ll worry about it later tomorrow. Unfortunately, you may not have a business tomorrow.
7. Pursue more
When someone asks you what your strategy is, answer: “To be the greatest company in the world!” Pursue more markets, more users and more followers. When asked why, answer: “Because we have to be the greatest!” Your team has difficulty making choices and is very likely running an unprofitable business.
Related: 5 Common Growth Strategy Mistakes and How to Fix Them
How to make better choices
It’s not that companies that make choices in any of these seven ways don’t have a strategy; they don’t have a detail Well strategy. They may even be operating using some of these strategies at the same time, which only compounds the negative effects.
New activities are launched every day. We can create products and services faster than ever. And soon production will be as low as pennies on the dollar. The only way to thrive is to focus on delivering meaningful value.
Define the value you offer by engaging the people you serve. Then make choices so that everything you do as a company leads to providing that value. To be successful, you’ll need to evaluate how your choices work—how effectively they deliver value—and adapt accordingly.
Regularly gather input from the people you serve, your team, and the external environment, so you’re well-positioned to evolve your business as values change, your team grows, and the world changes.
You and your team make choices every day. Choose to hold this meeting, adopt this software, or launch this product. You need to make thoughtful choices that improve your ability to deliver value effectively. The choices you make – and what you base them on – define your strategy. And like many things, some strategies work better than others.
Related: How to Recover from a Failed Strategy