by Alaa Halabi
Every business starts somewhere.
Founders often have an idea of what they want to build and who it’s for. They also have ambitions for where they want to take the business and how they want people to see it.
But how does all this translate into a strategy?
The challenge is understanding how these things fit together, while also looking at what’s happening in the market and what that could mean for the business.
A promising idea might solve a real problem, but there’s more to consider. Customers may value something different from what the founder expected, and the market may reveal risks or opportunities they hadn’t seen at first.
What founders set out to build can change as they learn more about the business and the market.
Shopify founder Tobi Lütke described how the company began as an online snowboard store. The e-commerce tools available at the time were either too expensive or too complicated, so the team built their own. He later said they quickly realized the bigger opportunity was in software that could help other businesses sell online.
What began as a snowboard business became a platform for entrepreneurs.
Looking at the bigger picture can change how founders see their own plans. They may discover a reason to take the business in a different direction, or rethink how to get where they wanted to go in the first place.
Strategy gives logic to the decisions a business makes and the direction it takes.
