As Lucius Anneus Seneca said, "If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favourable." To us, this means that it is easier to get to your destination with a plan. If you are driving from A to B, it is (obviously) helpful to know where B is, and the direction you need to take! If you have a vision of what you want your business to look like, then you are able to drive your business towards that vision and monitor how you are doing as you go along.
Without a strategic plan, you could get blown around like flotsam in the sea (that's our final nautical analogy/reference for today)!
So, with this in mind, we would highly recommend taking the opportunity presented by the New Year to prepare a strategic plan, and to set up your targets for the year ahead!
So how do you put a plan together? A plan looks at all the things a business could do and narrows it down to the things it is actually good at doing. A strategic plan also helps you determine where to spend time, resources and money.
How do you do a strategic plan?
Take time to review your own personal objectives – the business is there to provide you with what you want from life.
Look at where you are now: your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, so you have a clear understanding of your position in the marketplace, the competition, your systems, the way you do things, what you are good at, and what you are not.
Focus on where you want to be (say) in 2 years: what you want your business to look like when it is running profitably and successfully. Then you can determine your priorities – the big issues that you need to focus on. This is the strategic plan!
Write down your vision and define what you must achieve and the actions you need to take. Monitor how you are doing each month, noting which actions have been completed and what needs to be done to keep you moving forward.
Allocate responsibility for taking the actions.
Review and adjust your regular activities to keep you on track.
Please talk to us about how we can help you achieve your goals – we have helped many other businesses grow and succeed!