Tactic = an action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end
Your business name, your tagline, your website, your brochure, your FaceBook fan page, or any other business tool – they are tactics – that you employ to reach a goal.
Tactics don’t make a business successful
No tactic, no matter how clever or cool, will keep a client coming back. The value your business creates will.
You, the person behind the business – you, the person creating and providing the product and/or service – are ultimately what will make your business grow or shrink, and make your clients true fans.
No enduring business I know of can thank their tagline, or their business name, or any of their ever-changing and evolving tactics for their sustained success. They may thank tactics for having helped garner them attention, but they see their sustained success is due to the value their business creates in the world.
Smart people helping doesn’t hurt
You can hire awesomely smart people to work with you on your business tactics, and invariably you will grow because of them, but they do not have the answers to make your dreams a reality. They can’t guarantee that. No one can. But they can help you to shape your tactic into something great. To a point.
They can help you to create the most beautiful and functional website but it’ll be up to you to make it come alive and fill it with value. They can design you the most visually stunning and clever logo but it’ll be up to you to share and connect it to the people who can benefit from it’s message.
Your business success, the reaching of your goals, it’s always up to you. Tactics can help you to get there but they can’t guarantee arrival.
photo credit: HamburgerJung
