Summary

The article distinguishes between strategy and tactics, emphasizing the importance for entrepreneurs to understand the difference to effectively guide their businesses.

Abstract

The article "Tactics vs. Strategy — Why Every Entrepreneur Has to Know the Difference" underscores the critical distinction between strategy and tactics in business. It argues that confusing the two can lead to a lack of strategic direction, as tactics are often mistaken for strategy. The author illustrates the difference using the military context, where strategic nuclear weapons are designed for large-scale impact and deterrence, while tactical nuclear weapons focus on specific battlefield targets. In business, strategy is defined as the long-term vision and goals of a company, typically spanning five to ten years, which dictates the overall direction of the business. Tactics, on the other hand, are short-term actions aimed at achieving immediate results that support the overarching strategy. The article also discusses the characteristics of a good strategy, suggesting it should be unique and differentiate a company from its competitors, rather than being an obvious goal that everyone pursues. Entrepreneurs are advised to start with a clear strategy when crafting a business plan and then employ tactics that align with and advance this strategy.

Opinions

The author believes that a common mistake among business bloggers and marketing experts is equating tactics with strategy, which can lead to a lack of true strategic planning.
The article suggests that a good strategy should set a company apart from its competitors, rather than being a universally accepted goal like prioritizing customer interest.
A strategy is considered bad if its opposite is obviously undesirable, indicating a lack of differentiation and strategic thinking.
The author uses the military distinction between strategic and tactical nuclear weapons as a stark example to clarify the difference between strategy and tactics in a business context.
Tactics are described as the day-to-day measures and tools used to support and implement the broader strategic objectives.
The author emphasizes that understanding and applying the difference between strategy and tactics is essential for entrepreneurs to future-proof their companies.

Tactics vs. strategy — why every entrepreneur has to know the difference

I see again and again that business bloggers or supposed marketing experts talk about strategies when they mean tactics. The danger of not being able to distinguish between the two is that some entrepreneurs end up with no strategy at all because they consider their tactics to be their strategy.

Strategy and tactics are not synonyms

That there is a fundamental difference between strategy and tactics is most evident in the distinction made in the military between tactical and strategic nuclear weapons.

Although the example is not very pleasing, it shows well what it is all about. Tactical nuclear weapons have low explosive power and are designed to destroy concrete military targets on the battlefield. They usually have a short range and allow targeted attacks on infrastructure and similar targets.

Strategic nuclear weapons, on the other hand, have enormous explosive power and a range of several thousand kilometers. Their purpose is to wipe out entire regions and cause maximum damage.

Therefore, politicians and the military claim that these weapons have a deterrent effect on the enemy.

Tactical nuclear weapons were therefore developed to achieve concrete goals in conflicts that had already broken out (elimination of enemy positions, etc.). Strategic nuclear weapons, on the other hand, have been developed to avoid military conflicts by showing potential opponents that they are threatened with total destruction in the event of an attack.

I am not a friend of these military doctrines, but as a particularly blatant example of the difference between tactics and strategy, it is very useful.

Let’s take a closer look at the definitions of both terms and then apply them to the everyday life of entrepreneurs.

What is a strategy?

In business, strategy always has something to do with the long-term orientation of a company’s activities. Strategies define goals that are superior to everything else.

The perspective of a business strategy is usually between five and ten years.

With a strategy, a company defines where it wants to develop in the medium and long term.

Headlines such as “20 strategies for better content” or “The top 3 strategies to double your Twitter-Following” are therefore nonsense. Such contributions almost always deal with tactics and very rarely with actual strategies.

What are tactics?

If strategies define the long-term and superordinate orientation of business activities, then tactics are measures aimed at short-term success.

Tactics serve to help strategies succeed.

In team sports, such as soccer, this can be demonstrated well. The coach’s strategy is that your team should determine the pace of the game instead of being driven by your opponent.

He can support this strategy by using different tactics. He can, for example, instruct his players to play quick counter-attacks, keep the pace high by short-passing, and use a reliable playmaker to quickly distribute the ball from the center to the other parts of the team.

But he can also make the game slow by encouraging the players to play cross passes in their own penalty area often and to put the defense deep into their own half.

Different tactics support the overall strategy to let your team determine the pace of the game.

What distinguishes a good strategy from a bad strategy?

Having a strategy is suitable for now. Having a good strategy is better. But what is the difference between a good strategy and a bad strategy?

An article by Roger L. Martin ( https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-first-question-to-ask-of-any-strategy ) in the Harvard Business Review sums it up very well. Martin writes that a strategy is bad if the opposite is obviously stupid.

That’s why a company doesn’t do itself a favor if, for example, it pursues the strategy of always focusing on customer interest. This strategic goal is so apparent that every competitor will also pursue it.

Which company is pursuing the strategy of considering customer interest as a secondary issue and prioritizing website design or accounting workflow instead?

So we see that a good strategy must be one that sets us apart from our competitors.

So instead of saying that we place customer interest at the heart of our business, we can decide to target female millennials who own homes.

The likelihood that many competitors will follow the same approach is much lower in this example than in the broad approach of simply satisfying any customer.

Everyone wants to make their customers happy. Few want to make your customers happy.

Strategy and tactics in your business plan

When writing a business plan, you should start with the overall strategy. Define the business goal and how you want to achieve it.

Becoming the European online market leader in any industry is a business goal. The strategies to reach this goal are manifold.

You can focus on direct sales, content marketing, or setting up a webshop. The implementation of each of these approaches is a long-term affair and therefore belongs to the area of strategies.

So you now have three strategies to choose from, according to which you can align your entrepreneurial actions. Choose one of them and then take care of the tactics that drive your strategy.

Tactics are the tools you use every day. In content marketing, you can use social media channels, optimize your blog with SEO techniques, use influencers, and much more to advance your strategy.

These tools can be used at short notice and often unfold their effect immediately. This tells you that you are using a tactic, not a strategy.

Tactics support strategies and strategies are used to achieve overarching goals.

Every entrepreneur should not only know the difference between strategy and tactics but should also use this knowledge to lead his company future-proof.