From High Street to High Impact: Strategic Lessons for SMEs

This article was written by James Venning, Fashion Retail Landscapes Unit Leader, and lecturer on the BA (Hons) Fashion Buying and Merchandising Course at the London College of Fashion. 

When SME leaders think of strategy, they often picture consultants in suits, far removed from their own world. But during my career across corporate retail, education, fitness, and property, I’ve seen that effective strategy is simply about having a clear direction, listening to your environment, and having the confidence to adapt. 

On the Help to Grow: Management Course, I see this shift in mindset happen when founders step back from daily operations to think bigger and act more deliberately. 

In senior buying and merchandising roles at M&S and River Island, we didn’t just follow trends, we interrogated data, analysed risk, and made critical decisions about product, price, and timing. Those principles are just as applicable to a café owner, agency director, or any SME leader, as they are to a high street brand. 

Now, as an advisor to a growing fitness business, I support strategic decision-making around pricing models, client retention, and new service development. The problems may look different, but the process is the same: review the numbers, test assumptions, and take decisive action. 

One misconception I regularly challenge in the Help to Grow: Management Course is that strategy is a one-time activity. The most successful SMEs revisit and refine their strategy constantly. 

In my own ventures, particularly in the property sector, I’ve learned to think seasonally: planning around market cycles, school holidays, or regulatory changes. That rhythm of review and response builds resilience. Whether you’re a landlord or a landscaper, a designer or a digital agency, you benefit from stepping back regularly to ask: “Is this still working?” 

A quarterly check-in or a dedicated strategy day can provide clarity and renewed momentum, something many business owners only realise once they’ve done it." 

While digital tools and AI get a lot of attention, the most powerful innovations I’ve seen with SME leaders are often human-centred: 

• A fitness coach adjusting class formats based on real-time feedback. 

• A service business introducing short, weekly team huddles to solve issues faster. 

• A fashion boutique owner refining stock flow to better match customer purchasing behaviour. 

These aren’t flashy, but they’re strategic. They improve value, reduce friction, and move the business forward. As we explore in Help to Grow: Management Course, innovation doesn’t need to be big, it needs to be intentional. 

What I love about working with SMEs is their energy and ambition. But energy without direction can lead to burnout. That’s where strategy comes in, not as bureaucracy, but as clarity. 

Through Help to Grow: Management, we help leaders pause, reflect, and take practical steps toward sustainable growth. Whether it's using frameworks like the Business Model Canvas or just asking better questions, the goal is always the same: to help business owners lead with confidence, not just react under pressure. 

Many business owners arrive on the course unsure of how to “do strategy.” They leave not only understanding what it is but having applied it to their own business through their Growth Action Plan. That confidence is often the most valuable outcome. 

Whatever sector you're in, strategic thinking is accessible. It’s not reserved for corporates. It’s about being curious, reviewing regularly, and being bold enough to try something new, even on a small scale. 

Strategy is less about having all the answers, and more about knowing what questions to ask next. 

Find out more about the Help to Grow: Management Course here.