How to develop a SMART business – 7 things that matter

The decision to start a business could have a cerebral or visceral underpin – or better still, both.

Regardless of the inspiration for starting, for an enterprise to actualize the vision of the promoters and more importantly to survive new business early mortality “curse”, the business leaders/promoters must be deliberate about developing the business into a SMART one.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at:

• SMART goal-setting framework
• What a SMART business is
• How the concept of SMART business relates to SMART goal-setting framework
• How to adopt SMART business management
• 7 things that matter for a SMART business

A Look at SMART Goal-setting Framework

The concept of business SMARTness as propounded in this blog is borrowed from the popular SMART goal-setting framework. Setting SMART (an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) objectives is a good way to plan the steps required to meet long-term goals. It helps with clarification of goals, accountability and timing.

Before we go into the details of what a SMART business is and the key steps towards being one, let’s have a refreshing look at the SMART goal-setting framework.

As generally known within the SMART framework, for objectives to be effective, they must be:

Specific – Expectations, and the objectives to meet must be clearly defined, and responsibilities must be properly allocated. In other words, what needs to be done must be clearly articulated and communicated; having enough details but without ambiguity.

Measurable – The metrics for determining the accomplishment of the objective must be well defined, preferably in quantitative terms.

Attainable – Are the objectives achievable given the existing capabilities and capacity? The resources required to achieve the objective must be available and functional. Such resources would include tools, funds, time, manpower, technology, authority and others, as may be crucial to the accomplishment of the objective.

Relevant – The objectives must be relevant to the overall course of the entity. It must help to meet the purpose of the project, the team or the organisation.

Time-bound – The timeframes for the accomplishment of the objective must be well-articulated.
In general, the SMART framework sets businesses, teams and individuals up for success, helps to give a clear sense of direction and helps businesses organize better to reach their goals.

The Concept of SMART Business

Overall, a SMART business is that which has built efficient planning, monitoring and improvement mechanisms into all its activities and undertakings. Not only do they plan, monitor and improve, but the processes of executing each of these follow the SMART principles.
By so doing, they are constantly ahead of trends and competitors.

Characteristics of a SMART Business

A smart business is one that:

• Optimizes the use of its assets to achieve ambitious goals
• Knows how to generate, process, and use data generated by its activities; the business consumers (existing and potential); industry; and overall global trends
• Is proactive, yet knows how to adapt to market changes through internally built mechanisms for improvement
• Has a sustainable advantage over its competitors
• Is a digitally efficient business

Developing into a SMART business involves running the enterprise with the SMART framework. We believe this framework can – and should – be adapted as a global core in managing business enterprises, especially new businesses and SMEs.

By intelligently and diligently applying the elements of SMART framework in the day-to-day operational and strategic undertakings of an enterprise, a business gradually becomes smarter and makes an upward journey towards sustainably outperform its competitors.

How to integrate SMART into the business core – 7 things that matter

1. Business idea and Value Creation Matters

Being smart starts from the first day of formation or when the idea of creating the business was first mooted. Why was the business created? What was the idea behind creating the business? What’s the purpose? Many a business had their destiny nailed right from this formative stage.

Without doubt, every business enterprise is established for a particular purpose. In the conventional theory of the firm, the principal objective of a business firm is profit maximisation. Although this objective has been severely challenged by modern-day business management enthusiasts, the overarching need for business sustainability remains unchallenged.

Whether a business is established out of sustenance reasons; social factors; wealth building; or out of clock-building vision, what is important is that the purpose of the business should be tied to value-creation. A business that cannot sustainably provide value which can sustain it in operations has no business being in business.

It’s not enough to have beautiful vision and mission statements. What’s more important is the quality of value that the business intends to give today, and the improvements (or “disruptions”) that it will make to that value in the future - to sustain growth. This value must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. The ways and mode of providing this value must be clear to the promoters and the leaders of the business. It is tied to the reason the business exists. Beyond commencement of business, business leaders must continually assess the value subject. For instance, business executives must constantly ask the question – is our value proposition still unique and relevant?

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