The role of business strategists has become extremely important in the contemporary competitive corporate environment. As per Steven Rindner, these professionals help managers to determine targets for their organizations, and then prepare strategic plans to ensure that those targets are met. Steven himself is an eminent business strategist, and hence has a good idea of how these professionals work and the ways they help businesses. He mentions that the work of business strategists largely involves analyzing existing strategies and practices of a company, identifying areas for improvement, as well as developing innovative plans that can the business to progress and develop.
There are several companies that struggle with the decision of whether or not to hire a business strategist. Often the senior management of these firms feels that by doing so would indicate their own inadequacy in running the business. Steven Rindner mentions that this is often a counterproductive line of thought for any person wanting their business to grow and succeed. The specialist experience and insights that a business strategist has can prove to be extremely beneficial in enabling a company to progress towards consistent growth. In many ways, a business strategist acts a partner for the entrepreneurs and managers, and helps them to effectively identify major challenges and provide practical solutions for them.
As pointed by Steven Rindner there are many factors that make it a good idea for a company to hire a business strategist. Here are some of them:
An objective outsider’s perspective: Entrepreneurs and senior management typically invest a good amount of time, energy, and resources into building a business. Hence, it is normal for them to develop a certain level of bias towards it. Due to being too close to a business, often these professionals become too blind to spot the problems that are often right in front of their noses. Business strategists have much needed fresh eyes that allow them to point out issues holding companies back relatively quickly.
Expertise: The key value of business strategists lies in their knowledge, influence, and expert skill set. As these professionals tend to work with a variety of businesses, they are likely to have quite an expansive and deep knowledge of diverse business trends, industry challenges, as well as new technologies and processes, in comparison to any typical manager.
Cost savings: As a business chooses to hire a third-party business strategist, they only need to pay for their service for the period of time they require their assistance. This would provide considerable cost savings over employing a salaried employee with the same level of expertise, for the purpose of completing similar tasks. Hiring these professionals to meet the diverse short terms goals of a company can be a good move.
Strategic planning in a business is vital for helping it to move forward and streamline their operations. A professional business strategist can provide considerable assistance in this regard.
