Small business owners are caught in the tyranny of the urgent.

In other words, they’re busy working in their businesses – taking care of the day-to-day work – instead of working on their businesses. In order to small business to thrive, this needs to change.

Jack Patton’s solution for this issue comes in accessible strategic planning. His company, STRE.ME, provides small businesses with bite-sized, actionable strategy steps that make controlled growth more manageable and less daunting.

The first product, Value Shift, helps businesses identify strategic goals. This normally takes place in a one-on-one coaching meeting with Jack and his clients. The next step involves creating a measurable work plan with a clear path to achieve those goals using the second product, Atlas. Lastly, the company will put Compass to use, an application that will help them track and report progress.

Although much of his business is currently done through one-on-one coaching, Jack hopes to integrate more technology into STRE.ME’s services to reach a broader audience geographically. Both Value Shift and Atlas can be turned into online workshops and tutorials that will make strategic planning even more accessible to small businesses around the country.

The overall goal of STRE.ME is to allow small business to take a step back from day-to-day work to be more strategic in the future of their company. Through STRE.ME, Jack helps his clients find an attainable vision for the future and provides them a clear, actionable path to get there – a process that is not always easy for small business owners.

Looking ahead, Jack wants to add more resources to STRE.ME, including online tutorials and workshops, as well as about twelve books that will help guide the way for small businesses.