Business strategy has become quite important for the businesses to stay competitive in the present scenario. The history has been a witness to many business closing shop or going bankrupt for the lack of proper strategy.
So how do you build that strategy? Are there such professionals? What do these professionals do?
Understanding the role of Business Strategist
A business strategist plays a vital role in an organization, here are few of the important roles she plays to keep an organization always ahead of its competitors.
- The role of Business Strategist is basically to analyze organization’s business related practices, and goals in addition to give advice to the management for strategical improvements so as to steer the company direction to its success.
- One of the major role of a business strategist is to develop strategies that will help the organizations in –
- Cost cuttings
- Revenue increasing
- Taking key decisions
- Business strategist helps an organization in defining the markets in addition to identifying the trends within a specific market.
- A Business Strategist also helps in troubleshooting the current problems and implementing solutions.
- This apart, another important role of a business strategist is to not only understand their own organization to work on goals and objectives but they also have to analyze their competitors’ business model so as to establish goals and objectives that will give their organization an edge over competitors.
Why Does an Organization need a Business Strategist?
Almost every organization will require the services of a business strategist at one point or the other. And organizations as per their convenience and requirements can hire either an independent contractor or hire a business strategist who is working for a consulting firm. Organizations can also hire a dedicated full-time business strategist to advice the company from time to time.
For those aspiring to become a business strategist, here’s some happy news for you all.
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) predicts that the employment growth rate for professionals like business strategists will about 14% through 2024.
BLS predicts that the current trend of organizations finding ways to cut costs while improvising on the efficiency will be the major reason for the projected growth rate. And this trend as stated by BLS is expected to continue in the coming years.
Now that we have talked about the market demand, the role of a business strategist, let’s have a look at her responsibilities and the skills required to become a successful business strategist.
Job Responsibilities of a Business Strategist
- One of the major responsibilities of a business strategist is to analyze, and align business goals and objectives
- Studying market trends is another important responsibility of a business strategist
- She will also evaluate competition
- Last but not the least in some organization a business strategist helps in decision making process as well
Let’s have a quick look at the skills required!
Some of the important skills required for a business strategist include –
- Strong written and oral communication skills
- Leadership skills and qualities
- Since analysis is one of the major role of a business strategist it is not surprising for recruiters to seek strong analytical and problem-solving skills
- Some basic computer skills like MS Word and PowerPoint are also important
Ok, so you have the degree, you have acquired the skills but you feel that something is missing then you are right – you are missing to get a certified business strategist. Strategic Management certification is one you can go for from the reputed credentialing bodies like The Strategy Institute.