Strategy Docs Aren’t Just For Big Companies: Here Is A Simple Framework For Solopreneurs To Document Their Business Strategy

There are many business strategy frameworks. Most fail do to being too abstract or complex. One of my favorites is the Lafley & Martin Playing To Win framework. It is simple to understand, write, and operationalize. I used a more in-depth version of this for strategy docs I used to write at Microsoft. Here’s my short adapted version:

1. 🏆Winning Aspiration: Why does the business exist? What is the north star (i.e., what is winning look like)?
2. 🎯Where to Play: What playing field will achieve the aspiration (e.g., customer segments [description, values, pain points], distribution, geography, product category)?
3. 🏅How to Win: What are the company strengths and product value proposition that creates an unfair advantage to win in the chosen playing field? What levers (e.g., Cost Structure, Employee Compensation, Price, WTP, WTS) will be used to create value? What are the company values?
4. 🤹‍♀️Capabilities: What set of core capabilities and reinforcing activities are needed to win?
5. 📊Management Systems: What measures, structures, and systems are needed to support choices?

You can write this in narrative format or in an MBB-style deck.