Reset and Refocus: How to Set a New Strategy for Your Business or Product

Running a business is rarely a straight line. Even the most successful companies hit a point where something needs to change - maybe sales have plateaued, your market has shifted, or the original vision no longer fits the current climate. In these moments, setting a new business strategy isn’t a sign of failure, it’s a mark of resilience and leadership.

This article will guide you through how to review, reset, and relaunch with a renewed sense of direction, purpose, and potential. Whether you’re a local café owner in Hackney, a growing tech startup in Shoreditch, or managing a creative agency in Soho, the principles apply.

Why You Might Need to Rethink Strategy?

Let’s begin with the obvious: if something isn’t working, it’s worth looking under the bonnet. However, it's crucial to understand that strategy isn’t solely about fixing problems or addressing immediate concerns. In fact, there are numerous compelling reasons to revisit and potentially overhaul your strategic plan. Let’s explore some of these reasons in greater detail:

• Your original business model may no longer fit your current scale or market demands due to growth, industry changes, or technology advancements. Assess if a more scalable and adaptable framework is needed.

• New competitors can disrupt market dynamics. Conduct a competitive analysis to understand their impact and implement strategies to maintain your competitive edge.

• Customer behaviour changes rapidly. Regularly analyse feedback and market research to adjust offerings and stay relevant.

• Introducing new products or services requires strategic alignment with business objectives and brand identity. Ensure new additions complement core offerings.

• Future-proofing involves anticipating changes and developing flexible strategies to adapt to uncertainties, safeguarding long-term success.

The need to set a new strategy often arises at pivotal moments - after a pandemic, during an economic downturn, or when expanding into new geographies or verticals. Such significant transitions can drastically alter the business landscape and necessitate a reevaluation of your strategic direction. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to pivot quickly, adopt new technologies, and rethink their customer engagement strategies. Recognising these critical junctures and responding with a well-thought-out strategy can be the difference between thriving and merely surviving.

The key is being proactive, not reactive. Waiting until things completely stall is a risky approach that can lead to missed opportunities and increased challenges. Strategic reviews should be a regular part of running your business, akin to routine health check-ups. By establishing a schedule for regular strategic assessments, you can ensure that your business remains agile, responsive, and aligned with both internal goals and external market conditions. This ongoing evaluation not only helps in identifying areas for improvement but also fosters a culture of innovation and adaptability within the organisation.

Step 1: Audit Where You Are

Before you decide where you’re going, you need to understand exactly where you are. This means a full business review - not just of sales figures, but of systems, people, customers, and external market conditions.

Key Questions to Ask:

• What’s working well right now?

• What’s costing too much effort for too little return?

• Who are our most loyal customers, and what do they really value?

• Are our prices, processes, and partners still fit for purpose?

• What do our competitors now offer that we don’t?

Make time to analyse your metrics (revenue, conversion rates, churn) alongside qualitative insights (staff feedback, customer reviews, social media sentiment). This is your opportunity to look critically and honestly at your current performance.

If you’ve got the budget, consider engaging a consultant or facilitator to lead a strategy workshop - someone who can challenge assumptions and bring fresh thinking.

Step 2: Reconnect with Your Purpose

Businesses evolve, but your purpose should remain your north star, even if it gets refined along the way. If your current strategy doesn’t reflect what you stand for or why your business exists, customers will feel the disconnect. Re-evaluating your mission and values gives you the chance to align your direction with your identity.

Ask yourself:

• What problem are we still trying to solve?

• What impact do we want to make in our industry or community?

• What’s unique about how we solve it?

Clear purpose is particularly important when leading teams through change - it provides stability during uncertain phases and gives your staff something to rally around.

Step 3: Define Your New Strategic Goals

Here’s where you begin to shape your new direction. These aren’t marketing slogans - they’re practical, measurable objectives that set the tone for the next chapter.

Examples include:

• Enter a new market within the next 12 months;

• Shift from in-person to digital-first delivery;

• Increase repeat customer rate by 30%;

• Launch a subscription-based version of your core product;

• Reduce operational overheads by 20% without cutting jobs.

Every goal should come with a clear rationale and a sense of feasibility. You don’t need 50 goals; you need a few that matter.

Step 4: Refresh Your Offer

Many businesses keep trying to sell the same thing in the same way, long after the market has moved on. When rethinking your strategy, your product or service offer often needs a tune-up too.

Consider:

• Are you solving the right problem for today’s customer?

• Can you simplify or bundle your offering?

• Do you need to introduce a new pricing model?

• Can technology help deliver more value?

One good framework is to look at the “jobs to be done” model: what are your customers actually hiring your product or service to do in their lives? This can unlock new positioning and innovation.

Step 5: Review Your Route to Market

The channels you used when you first launched may no longer be the best fit. Digital trends change, buyer behaviour evolves, and newer platforms often offer better ROI.

Evaluate:

• Are your current marketing channels (email, social, SEO, paid ads) still converting?

• Do you need to update your content strategy to reflect your new direction?

• Should you shift from B2C to B2B, or vice versa?

• Are there partnerships or marketplaces you’ve overlooked?

If you’ve moved online or hybrid since the pandemic, make sure your digital touch-points reflect your new offer and strategy. Even simple things like outdated website copy or unclear pricing can be off-putting.

Step 6: Realign Your Team

A new strategy means everyone needs to be on the same page. Communication is crucial here. From leadership to part-time staff, your team should know:

• What’s changing, and why;

• How their roles contribute to the new direction;

• What success looks like moving forward.

You may also need to upskill staff, shift responsibilities, or restructure teams. Done right, this is an opportunity to reinvigorate your culture - not just your strategy.

Tip: Consider creating a short internal strategy document or a team presentation that outlines the new plan clearly and visually.

Step 7: Implement with Agility

Execution is where strategy lives or dies. But launching a new direction doesn’t mean writing a 30-page plan and hoping for the best. Instead, think in sprints and feedback loops.

Start small, test frequently, and build momentum with each success. Celebrate wins, but also learn quickly from what's not working.

Be especially open to customer feedback during this phase. You might discover your new pricing is off, your messaging needs tweaking, or a new feature is hitting better than expected.

Step 8: Track What Matters

A strategy is only useful if it’s tracked. Choose KPIs that genuinely measure what you’re trying to achieve beyond just vanity metrics.

Depending on your goals, this could include:

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC);

• Lifetime customer value (LTV);

• Customer satisfaction or Net Promoter Score (NPS);

• Conversion rate per marketing channel;

• Repeat purchase rate.

Set review cycles (e.g. monthly or quarterly) and use these check-ins to course-correct if needed. Strategy isn’t static, it should be dynamic and evolving.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Overcorrecting: If something isn’t working, don’t throw out everything. Some parts of your business are likely still effective, retain what’s strong.

• Going too broad: Trying to please everyone will dilute your message. Narrow your focus and speak directly to your ideal customer.

• Ignoring the numbers: Intuition matters, but data keeps you honest. Blend both.

• Not bringing your team along: Even the best strategy will flop without team buy-in. Include your staff early and often.

Final Thoughts: Change Is a Strategy, Not a Panic Button

Updating your business strategy is not an admission of failure - it’s a sign that you’re building something worth adapting.

The best businesses don’t stay still. They evolve with their customers, the market, and the world around them. So whether you’re two years in or two decades in, now might be the perfect time to reset, refocus and set a bold new course.

And if you need support turning strategy into reality, whether it’s digital transformation, product redesign or branding refresh, Huzza World is here to help. We work with founders and growing businesses to create scalable, strategy-first solutions that stick.