Over the years we have worked with hundreds of businesses, small and large. A very common theme among them all is that the founders of the company are extremely visionary. At the same time, moving from the vision to opening and operating the business is not the founders most enjoyable part of the process.
That being said, planning strategically becomes essential. Not only to get the business off the ground, but also to sustain the business. Can you imagine a business opening its doors not knowing how the market will respond, anything about the competition, or how many employees to have on the staff? Our guess is that you have seen this many times!
Generally a successful business didn’t get there because of guessing on what to do next. There is a lot of planning, strategies set, tactics to achieve the goals, and plenty of accountability by stakeholders involved in the development and sustainability of the business. Check out this MOB Media example of launching a new product. http://www.mobmedia.com/casestudies/eco-centre.
Marketing is typically the central focus of the strategic planning efforts. If you don’t have a marketing department or marketing director, then hiring a marketing firm experienced in strategic planning would be another great option.
Often successful businesses make changes, many changes, before opening for business. They plan, move forward, see mistakes, make changes and start all over again. Strategic planning is not a one time thing. It should be done often throughout the lifetime of your business. There are so many variables in business today that you can’t let too much time go by without a gut check on the operations.
If you have a business and haven’t planned strategically, it is never too late to start.
What are your challenges when it comes to strategic planning? We look forward to hearing your comments. Until next time…