Small Steps Build Big Successes
In an era where billions of people now have access to technology, education, and communication platforms, businesses are constantly improving to effectively solve problems, smart minds are emerging, and opportunities are being pounced on.
Smart businesses are innovating and upgrading through alliances, strategic partnerships, and collaboration—constantly improving to meet evolving needs.
Around the world, there are businesses that have achieved and scaled up to an enviable height, always approaching matters in their broadest sense, including both old and new ways of doing things.
They aim to find new ways of approaching or find better means of approaching old ways, whether it is through a new product design, a new production process, a new marketing approach, or a new way of conducting training.
It starts with small steps that become worthwhile over time; it's like building a house brick by brick. It does not happen as a sudden discovery or a big invention or a breakthrough supported by a quick action to make it a reality but is more about small and consistent steps usually coming from many ideas and improvements added up over time.
Sometimes it's not something flashy but the regular that is consistently done over a period of time.
The smartphones that are being widely used today did not appear overnight with the upgrade they have; rather, they came from many years of improvement in touchscreens, mobile internet, battery life, apps, and the like. And electric cars from Tesla were not one big idea—it's years of improving batteries, motors, software, and manufacturing.
This kind of activity involves a conscious effort because it often springs up from simple investments in research and development or market research; more often it comes from effort, openness, and looking in the right place unencumbered by blinding assumptions or conventional wisdom.
Research shows that 80% of leaders feel their company is good at crafting strategy, but only 44% feel they are good at implementation. The drop isn’t caused by bad ideas; rather, it’s caused by the failure to break those ideas into small, consistent actions that become part of daily operations, but successful businesses take advantage of this by having an established mechanism to translate their strategy into operational terms and evaluate it on a day-to-day basis.
Also, research shows that 85% of leadership teams spend less than one hour per month on strategy, and 50% spend no time at all on strategy. This research shows a huge gap decline and why we have such a low percentage of businesses that outperform others, and high-performing businesses close this gap by embedding strategic priorities into routine tasks, meetings, and reviews—ensuring progress is made every single day instead of in short bursts of activity.
A true and verifiable fact is that there are businesspeople people don't want to compete with because they've earned such a strong identity and value proposition. These businesses have a proven track record of being efficient and deeply entrenched in the space; they possess the resources, customer data, infrastructure, and distribution network that are hard to replicate.
Those brands carry such a strong reputation and a cult-like loyalty that new players feel like underdogs before they even start.
They have innovated so clearly in value, process, customer experience, and even a good pricing model that others don't even bother—such companies did not just show up out of the blue; rather, it was through their little and consistent actions that had been measured up over time. Now they have become known to outperform others and are masters in their niche; that's an advantage you get to have when you adopt such a strategic intention.
Outperformers approach a dogged determination, often in the face of harsh criticism and tough obstacles, but this is what has helped them to continue to thrive above others—maintaining sustainability through relentless improvement.
Oftentimes other businesses tend to imitate some of their ideas that come as a result of a relentless approach but fail to really see the main reason why it is being done.
A quick study in the manufacturing and automobile sector. Japan is home to some of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers, like Honda, Nissan, and Toyota—the largest automaker in the world by volume, consistently setting benchmarks for quality and innovation.
Japanese automakers engaged in penetrating foreign markets with small, inexpensive compact cars of adequate quality and competed on the basis of lower labor costs. Even while their labor-cost advantage persisted, however, the Japanese companies were upgrading. They became innovators in process technology, pioneering just-in-time production and a host of other quality and productivity services.
These process improvements led to better product quality, better repair records, and better customer satisfaction ratings than foreign competitors had.
Who wouldn't want to own one of those Japanese autos?
But they are not stopping but constantly improving in supply, design, engineering, and finance to attain global technological and market leadership, shifting and leveraging their strengths to introduce new, high-end brands in a move to compete with established and prestigious luxury brands.
For any business that wants to outperform others, engaging in continuous enhancement is not an option; otherwise, others who do will eventually catch up and inevitably overtake them.
Also, MTN Nigeria, Nigeria's telecom leader, holds over 50% of subscribers' share. With an increase in subscribers from 84.6 million in December 2024 to 87.5 million in Jan 2025—an increase of 2.9 million subscribers in one month.
This success story did not just happen overnight but as a result of continuous improvement over time, even after being majorly hit by NCC's National Identification Number SIM linkage.
They have rivals who are painstakingly behind them, and any form of misstep is a stepping stone for their competitors.
As a result, Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Communication (FMCIDE) has announced plans to roll out 7,000 cell towers in rural areas to improve connectivity across the country.
To be one of those businesses that are not just competing to capture market share but also standing out, here are a few principles that will help:
- Implement a data-driven decision-making (DDDM) process.
- Discern opportunities through others' setbacks and turn them to your gain.
- Identify your areas of strength and maximize them.
- Play defense and offense—capture new markets and innovate and defend your market share and brand reputation.
- maintain and balance both bold actions and a consistent, sustainable pace
- Embrace strategic partnership.
- Seek an evermore sophisticated approach.
- Effective R&D team that explores technical & business opportunities.
- Effective marketing strategy that promotes both product and services
- Prioritise customer experience
Today's outperforming realities demand business owners and leaders who recognize its importance and put in the action to work and relentlessly upgrade, not just a big leap followed by a long period of inaction but one that involves deliberate steps that compound over time until the results are clearly visible. This ought to be the goal for business—not just surviving but improving, not just once but continuously, and having repeated progress.
The question now really is will business owners give themselves to building or remain in the 50% who spend no time at all on strategy?
