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By STEPHEN C. POPLASKI, PhD, CPA, CFP ® Managing Director and Director of Advisory Practice Washington Trust Wealth Management
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Three Keys to a Successful Business Strategy
Photos: Bigstock
When you’ re running a business, no matter the size, it’ s easy to get caught up in the rhythm of day-to-day operations: serving customers, managing employees, solving problems and keeping everything moving. But long-term success requires a clear strategy. And a strong business strategy doesn’ t happen by accident; it’ s built intentionally, thoughtfully and with discipline. Here are three essential keys to creating a successful business strategy.
1. Identify Your Core Business Activity and Where You Are Headed
Before you can map out a plan, you need to know exactly what your business is— and what you want it to become. Strip everything else away and articulate, in one succinct sentence: Who are you? What do you do? And why do you do it?
Next, get specific about what you’ re trying to accomplish. Are you looking to grow steadily or do you need a more aggressive expansion strategy? Are you entering a new market or launching a new product line? Maybe your financials are strained, and stabilizing debt is a priority. Perhaps you’ re positioning the business for sale or preparing for your own retirement. Your objectives shape the structure and direction of your strategy, so clarity is essential. In practice, these two tasks are referred to as the organization’ s mission and vision statements. Led by an experienced advisor, a focus group made up of members of your company and community leaders can help you develop these formal statements. The process can unveil new perspectives or blind spots you didn’ t know existed.
2. Evaluate by Taking a Deeper Dive
A classic and highly effective tool is the SWOT analysis— identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to inform your business plan. Strengths promote while weaknesses detract from your mission and vision. Both come from inside your business with examples such as capabilities, skills, resources, limitations and challenges in your operations or team. Opportunities recognize uncaptured chances to enhance, while threats expose risk in achieving your company’ s mission and vision. These characteristics are found externally and include market trends, competitor activity, economic shifts, new technologies or changing customer expectations.
The real value of a SWOT analysis is that it helps you think critically about where your business stands today and what forces will shape its future. But remember: This isn’ t a one-and-done exercise. Strategy is fluid. Markets shift. Technology evolves. Customer behavior
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98 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2026