What is Strategy?

Strategic Planning for Entrepreneurs: What Strategy Actually Is (And Isn’t)

Problem

If you’re building a business in South Africa, you’ve probably heard that you “need a strategy”. But ask five people what business strategy is and you’ll get seven different answers. Some think it’s a vision statement. Others call any plan or target “strategy”. The result? Many founders confuse strategy with goals, best practices, or day‑to‑day operations.

For early-stage entrepreneurs, this confusion leads to scattered effort: chasing every opportunity, copying competitors, and reacting to crises
instead of making deliberate, long-term choices.

Approach

The research behind this article looked at classic strategy thinkers – Ambrosini, Johnson & Scholes, Porter, Riley, Chaffee – and how they define strategy:

1. Long-term direction and scope: Ambrosini, Johnson & Scholes see strategy as the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, using resources in a challenging environment to meet market needs and stakeholder expectations.
2. Unique value proposition and trade-offs: Porter frames strategy as a unique value proposition, a tailored value chain, clear trade-offs (what you won’t do), and activities that reinforce each other over time.
3. Key questions: Riley breaks strategy into questions: Where are we going? Which markets are we in? How do we perform better than competitors? What resources and capabilities do we need? What external factors shape our environment? What do stakeholders expect?
4. No single definition: Chaffee argues there is no single agreed
   definition. Instead, she offers three models:
   1. Linear (planning-based, proactive)
   2. Adaptive (for dynamic environments, focused on flexibility)
   3. Interpretative (using metaphors and shared meaning to make sense of the organisation and its environment)

The research is largely conceptual, based on decades of academic and consulting work, not a single survey or experiment. It compares definitions to surface what is common across them.

Results

From these perspectives, a few things become clear:

1. Strategy is long-term and directional – not just next quarter’s sales target.
2. Strategy is about being different in a way that matters, not simply being “better”.
3. Strategy involves explicit choices and trade-offs, especially in tough environments.
4. There is no one-size-fits-all model; different contexts (like South African SMEs facing resource constraints and regulation) may lean towards different strategy models.

Lessons for founders

What the research shows

1. Strategy is about:
   1. Long-term direction and scope.
   2. Fitting your resources to your environment.
   3. A unique value proposition and reinforcing activities.
   4. Making trade-offs and choosing what not to do.
2. There isn’t one perfect definition or model – strategy is multidimensional and situational.

What this suggests you might try in your startup

1. Write down your strategic choices, not just your goals.
   E.g. “We serve township-based spaza shops via WhatsApp ordering” is a strategic choice; “Grow revenue” is a goal.
2. Be explicit about what you won’t do.
   If you’re a logistics startup serving informal retailers in Gauteng, you may decide not to chase e‑commerce customers in Cape Town this year. That’s strategy.
3. Pick a model that fits your reality.
   1. Stable industry? You might lean more on a linear, planning-based approach.
   2. Fast-changing space (e.g. fintech, edtech)? An adaptive model where you revise often may be more realistic.
4. Align your activities so they reinforce
   each other.
   For a small business, this might mean focusing your marketing, operations and partnerships on one core segment instead of trying to serve everyone.
5. Revisit your strategy as your environment shifts.
   In South Africa, changes in regulation, load shedding, or local competition can quickly shift your context. Strategy isn’t a once-off document; it’s an ongoing set of choices.