Let's Talk About Strategy

©By Wiley Miller, September 17, 2011

Strategy vs. Reality

  

Reality happens every day. Strategy, unfortunately, seems to happen almost by accident.

Strategy

Merriam-Webster has two definitions for Strategy. The first deals with politics, economics, war, and psychology – interesting, but less relevant to us than the second

a : a careful plan or method : a clever stratagem

b : the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.

Successful athletes know an Olympic medal is not won by running a single race. Your business will not be successful based on any single action. You need careful planning, regular assessments and thoughtful measures to keep you on track and performing at your peak.

Larger jewelry stores have a squad of people handling the tasks that keep a jewelry business running smoothly, each person with specialized skills. Independent Jewelers are like the Olympic Decathletes – put through a grueling series of tasks for which your expertise has left you only partially qualified. No wonder you're stressed!

What to do?

Create a Clear Set of Goals.

Your goal list doesn't have to be long. I recommend three critical goals as a good start. You can always add more items to your list later.

A goal should be clearly stated to be unambiguous. Here are some examples:

"Reduce the turnaround time on watch repairs by 25% over the next quarter."

"Increase net profit by 5% in the next quarter."

"Every client is to be greeted within 5 seconds of entering the store (without being pounced upon!)."

Each of these goals clearly states a purpose to achieve something specific within a clearly stated time period.

A poorly stated goal is:

"Make more money."

While we all want to achieve some level of success with our store, there is nothing to state when, how, or even how much might be achieved with this goal statement. Further, making 'more money' says nothing about profit or health of your jewelry store.

Make Your Goals Measurable.

Clear goals are your starting point. You want to know where your store is today; you want to know when your store meets each goal. Consider the above goal:

"Reduce the turnaround time on watch repairs by 25% over the next quarter."

In order to achieve this goal, you first have to understand how long it takes to repair watches today. Then you will be able to reduce the time it takes to repair watches in the future. How you track this information is up to you. Graph it. Use a spreadsheet. As you reduce your turnaround time, you can boast via social media, "Fastest Watch Repairs in the West" – perhaps. You will have data to back up your statements.

Figure Reasonable Periods for Checking the Status of Goals.

Will you have to measure everything every day? Will you become a slave to data? No. Consider the goal:

"Increase net profit by 5% in the next quarter."

Do you manage your bank accounts every day? Probably not. Your accountant or accounting software will be a big help in generating the data you use to track this information. Your sales, inventory and purchases will guide you in determining whether you track weekly, biweekly or monthly.

Stay on Track.

Like the Olympian Decathlete, set your goals and track them to make sure your store is moving in the direction you want it to. The decathlete checks his status after each event to adjust his strategy for the next event. You, as an Independent Jeweler, must do the same to stay on track.

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