Future State COO
helping small business achieve their desired future state

thoughts on

closing the gap

Future State is dedicated to providing emboldening insight on optimizing small businesses for sustainable growth. Our focus is on organizational alignment between targets and functions - closing the gap between present reality and vision, between current and future state.

“The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
— Peter Drucker

Strategic Operations Leadership System for Small Business

So you think you have a pretty amazing business strategy — that’s great! That’s the first step. But how are you, as a small business owner, effectively executing it? 

It’s one thing to have solid business strategies in place but another thing entirely to operationalize them, but this is a crucial step that every small business needs to take. So how do you do that? That’s exactly what I want to talk to you about today. 

Bottom line: You need alignment across the organization. To do this, an intentional framework must be in place. Once you’re aligned across the board, you can develop a rhythm (or cadence) for executing, measuring, and reporting. 

Creating a framework for leadership to operate within makes all of this possible. We call that framework the Strategic Operations Leadership System (SOLS) and it encompasses Vision, Culture, Strategy, Structure, Operations and Cadence. 

What can a SOLS do? 

A SOLS provides the foundation for systemizing your small business by optimizing operations, practicing continuous improvement,and bettering your problem solving — all so you can grow and scale. 

Each component of a SOLS is deliberate and compartmentalized but also interconnected across the system; nothing is siloed. The cross-functional and holistic approach produces boundless opportunities for continuous improvement and growth across your organization while ensuring you stay on track and hit strategic targets.

Here’s the SOLS breakdown of each of its components and how they’re all interconnected. 

Strategic Operations Leadership System 

  • Vision: Every small business owner should begin with a Vision that is focused, directive, and viable. This is the North Star that should guide every other aspect of your business and can involve leadership taking a step back to assess where the business is headed and where its priorities lie. 

    • Focused

    • Directive

    • Viable 

  • Culture: Connecting back to the Vision, your Culture must have a clear (and clearly communicated) set of Values that make sense for the business you’re in. Those tie into your company’s altruistic Purpose, which should affect the company’s overall Mindset. This Mindset effectively becomes your company Culture. 

    • Values

    • Purpose

    • Mindset

  • Strategy: When thinking about a company strategy, every element, beginning with Vision and Culture, must be in Alignment. Consider also the Advantages of Strategy and what Targets are important for your particular Strategy.

    • Alignment

    • Advantages

    • Targets

  • Structure: Every leader must ensure its People have Clarity of responsibility and understands exactly what each person’s role entails and how an Accountability system is embedded into the Structure.

    • Clarity

    • Accountability

    • People 

  • Operations: When it comes to Operations, clear Systems and Processes are essential and possible to put into place once Vision, Culture, Strategy, and Structure are in order. Then, crucially, a more well-defined and effective Execution comes next. 

    • Systems

    • Processes 

    • Execution

  • Cadence: Cadence is your rhythm in ensuring all of the above are in order via the important skills of Problem Solving, Communication, and ability to measure the Operations’ Metrics. 

    • Metrics

    • Communication

    • Problem solving

Every leader needs to create alignment across the organization, develop a consistent rhythm, operationalize strategies, and achieve a desired future state. 

This is a lot —we get it. No small business owner should attempt all of this on their own. That’s why we are here to lend a hand operationalizing your small business strategy.

Future State COO can custom design and implement a SOLS, so you can do what you do best: lead, work on your business, gain traction on your goals, develop a business rhythm, and achieve your desired future state. 

What Future State COO can do

  • Provide strategic partnerships to help you refine and clarify your vision and structure

  • Help you operationalize strategies through cultural and operational alignment

  • Establish a cadence for measuring, reporting, and communicating

Contact us if you need help building and strengthening your leadership systems to get the results you want.


Chad G - FSC