Building a Strategic Framework for SMEs

Founders succeed because, at the start, they do everything themselves. As the organisation grows, that load is shared with team members and managers.

Eventually, though – especially when the business needs to become more strategic – the absence of clear governance, aligned decision rights, and repeatable ways of working starts to slow things down. Performance suffers. Value creation stalls.

This is not about governance for compliance. It is about governance as a practical way to create clarity, accountability, and consistent strategic execution in a growing organisation.

The real problem is that most founders have never been taught how to build an organisation. Their mindset is rightly focused on customers, cash, and momentum. That was certainly my experience. Knowing when – and how – to shift from “doing everything” to building capability is not intuitive.

I spent too long seeing myself as the clown juggling all the balls just to keep things moving. What I needed to become was the chess player – thinking several moves ahead, setting the board up so others could play their part effectively.

Where Business Integrated Governance helps

One practical application of Business Integrated Governance (BIG) is to give SMEs a simple, accessible way to put the right foundations in place early – without expensive consulting, heavy frameworks, or being lectured into processes that feel unnecessary at the time.

BIG is designed to be learned, discussed, and adapted. Founders can engage with it at their own pace, connect with people who have been through the same growth pains, and get practical help when they need it.

A practical approach founders can adopt early

1. Reframe governance as a tool for execution
Founders often hear “governance” and think of boards, regulators, or slow committees. In reality, governance is simply about agreeing how decisions are made, who makes them, and how progress is tracked. Done well, it removes friction and frees people up to execute.

2. Start with a small set of core building blocks
Rather than a one-size-fits-all model, SMEs only need a few essentials:

• Decision rights – a simple view of who is accountable for what. In BIG, this is the Accountability Map.
• Operating rhythms – regular, predictable touch points to review performance and priorities. BIG refers to this as the cadence of governance.
• Performance insight – a small set of measures aligned to mission critical objectives, so leaders are not guessing how the business is really performing.
• Risk and issue awareness – not generic risk statements, but a focused view of what could stop objectives being achieved.

These are not bureaucratic artefacts. They are tools that make running the business easier.

3. Link governance directly to capability building
Governance should never feel abstract. It enables very practical outcomes:

• Clear decision rights make delegation possible and build trust in managers.
• Regular rhythms create predictability and reduce reactive firefighting.
• Better information allows founders to steer the business, not just respond to it.

These practices should be embedded into how the business already operates, not bolted on as ceremonies.

4. Use maturity stages as guidance, not judgement
SMEs evolve. A simple maturity view helps founders see what comes next without implying failure:

• Founder-centric – fast decisions, informal processes.
• Emerging leadership – basic delegation, clearer roles, early structure.
• Structured execution – consistent rhythms, performance visibility, managed risks.
• Strategically capable – governance fully integrated into strategy and execution, ready for investment or exit.

Each stage builds naturally on the last.

5. Make the value creation link explicit
Good governance is not internal admin. It underpins investor confidence, partner trust, and employee engagement. Clarity and predictability signal organisational maturity and directly support enterprise value.

6. Use founder language, not imposed jargon
BIG has a body of knowledge and shared terminology for a reason – but it is not there to be imposed. Founders relate better to language like “how we decide”, “how we know we are winning”, and “how we avoid surprises”. The concepts matter more than the labels.

7. Support adoption through people, not just content
Most founders know what they should do. Implementation is the hard part. Coaching, peer discussion, and access to experienced practitioners make the difference.

The BIG CIC already provides forums, networks, and access to people who can help founders understand, adapt, and adopt what they need – when they need it.

8. Measure impact and iterate
Any serious application of BIG principles enables before-and-after assessment of strategic capability. Improvements in decision speed, role clarity, delivery confidence, and customer outcomes provide reassurance that the business is scaling in a controlled way.

In summary

Demystifying governance for SMEs means stripping it back to essentials: clear accountability, predictable rhythms, simple measures, and disciplined decision making. When governance is experienced as a set of practical habits that make day-to-day work easier and strategy more achievable, founders engage with it willingly.

The BIG Body of Knowledge makes the rationale, principles, and roadmap accessible to SME founders and directors so they can build real strategic capability – balancing performance today, value tomorrow, and ever-present threats.

A good place to start is What is BIG. From there, the conversation can move to how it can be applied sensibly and pragmatically in growing businesses.

Contact us to find out more about how this can be sensibly exploited.