Whether you’re just starting out or scaling your food or beverage business, there are so many things to do that you can’t possibly do them all (well) at the same time. The key is to figuring out how to prioritize so you can turn your laser-like focus into a competitive advantage.
Today on the Real Food Brands Podcast, host and Brand Strategist Katie Mleziva talks with Ainsley Moir, Founder and Lead Brand Strategist of the Healthy Food & Beverage Group, about how to set your priorities with a Strategic Mapping exercise, including the 8 Strategic Priorities Katie had adapted specifically for food and beverage companies. You’ll also hear how Katie and Ainsley recommend finding the right people and resources at the right time for your business.
The 8 Strategic Priorities You Need to Consider
We’re going to be focusing on these 8 Strategic Priorities for food and beverage companies in the RFB Food & Beverage Round Table Mastermind Groups Katie is launching in mid-September, but we wanted to introduce the concept of Strategic Mapping now so you can get started whether you join one of the Mastermind groups, or not (of course we only want you to join a group if that’s the right thing at this time, right?!).
Katie walks listeners through how to list out the different areas of your business and put them in a priority order so you can align your team’s time (or that of your contractors’) around the right things at the right time. There are 8 buckets to think about:
- Financials
- Operational Efficiency
- Marketing and Visibility
- Brand Strategy Foundation
- Leadership and Building Your Team
- Customer Experience
- Scaling Distribution
- Product Mix
When you’re starting out, Katie and Ainsley agree that your brand strategy needs to come first because it sets the stage for all your other actions and decisions. “The brand strategy plays into everything that your business does if you do it right,” Ainsley added. The right brand strategy can align your team around what you’re trying to do, whether that’s your bookkeeper or your packaging supplier.
The CUBES Method of Goal Setting
Ainsley suggests taking time to look at your goals before you set your priorities. The most important thing a small food brand can do when it’s just starting out is figuring out how to effectively prioritize their work. “You’re a small team and you can’t do everything well at once,” she says, “so focus will be one of your major competitive advantages if you can really do that.”
In order to prioritize effectively, Ainsley recommends the CUBES method:
Clarity: what you want as a business owner and why you want it.
Understand exactly what that looks like for you and your business.
Break it down into bite-sized pieces.
Execute the plan
Stay focused
“Your business can grow in lots of different ways, it can grow by changing up product line, it can grow by scaling your distribution, by improving your financials or operation efficiencies,” Ainsley says, so you need to be clear on your goals to move it in the direction you want it to go in.
The Food and Beverage Growth Summit (Access the Summit Here!)
To help food and beverage business owners learn more about the topics that are most important to them, Ainsley hosts the Food and Beverage Growth Summit, a FREE seven-day video event to get businesses on track in the last week of September. They’ll talk about branding and brand strategy (Katie’s session on rebranding will be on Day 1), financials, visibility with marketing and sales, how to raise money, and more.
Now, let’s go shake up shopping carts!
In This Episode:
- The 8 Strategic Priorities you need to consider for your business.
- What the CUBES method of goal setting is and how to use it.
- Why small teams especially need to focus on focusing.
- What you can get from the two RFB Round Table Mastermind groups for early-stage and scaling brands.
- Why it’s important to align every member of your team around your brand strategy.
- More info about the Food and Beverage Growth Summit that Ainsley hosts.
Quotes:
“I’m a really big advocate for building a powerful brand and how that can really transform businesses.” – @AinsleyMoir
“You’re a small team and you can’t do everything well at once, so focus will be one of your major competitive advantages if you can really do that.” – @AinsleyMoir
“The brand strategy plays into everything that your business does if you do it right.” – @AinsleyMoir
“You’ve started a food company because you did want to make some money in addition to having an impact on the world and grocery store shelves, so how do we make it so you’re making more money in your business?” – @AinsleyMoir
Resources: