Or is your company the product? This may be a novel way to hit on strategy, but it is important. When launching quickly we often focus on getting the core aspects correct and tweaking the details later, but do we ever circle back? This may be especially true when launching an app or a service. Stop and think for a minute, has your product overshadowed your company?

These are some signs your product or service has taken center stage away from the core of your company:

• There is a lack of long term strategy from a business perspective (you may have a product strategy in place)
• Employees are unsure what the key objectives the company is striving to reach
• Ideas that do not support the product are dismissed instead of leveraged for another product/service opportunity
• Individual development has taken a back seat to pushing out updates or enhancements to the existing product

If you are successfully growing your business, your employees and company you are probably already on the right track. If any of the above bullet points had your gears turning, perhaps it is time to increase your company focus. Let's consider some options to take positive action.

• Create a consistent stream of communication that outlines company focus and direction to all employees
• Create a roadmap of what your business goals are as a company and how you will work toward achieving them
• Never dismiss an idea on the sole fact that it doesn't align with the current product or service
• Ensure there are opportunities within the company and outside of it for employees to grow and learn
• Create outlets for employees to put their growth and unserved or underserved talents / passion to work

By giving adequate focus to the strategy of your company you can ensure that important parts of your company that do not focus on the product or service on a daily basis are still operating and growing properly. You will also have your eyes tuned for strategic opportunity and product growth. You may create more product variations or an entirely new segment for your business to grow.

There is nothing wrong with giving attention to the pieces, but you can only put a puzzle together with a strategy.