Strategic planning is an important process and sets the stage for the rest of the planning in the firm. How can you reach your goals if you never plan for them? You can’t.
The first step is about defining the company’s mission. What is our business and who is the target market are key questions you should be asking. Begin with a list of three or four core values by which you want your company to operate.
You then need to turn your mission into goals and objectives. Do a S.W.O.T analysis: This involves being able write down your Strengths and Weaknesses as a company, before looking outside at the business environment and writing down any Opportunities or Threats. It is amazing how just doing this exercise lays out the structure of what you need to work on for the next year.
Over the course of the Strategic Planning process, key questions that are critical to deciding the direction of your business will be addressed. Questions such as:
- Core competencies
- Customer wants and needs
- Target markets
- Industry and market dynamics
- Market opportunities
- Competition
- Suppliers
- Trends
- Action plan development
- Resources required
- Budgets and timelines
Now to develop your action plan. Take each key focus you have identified for the year and have your team brainstorm tasks to accomplish each. Once the tasks are outlined for each focus, write down due dates and assign who will be responsible for each one.
These are simple key steps to improving your business. It’s important to remember that learning to build a successful enterprise doesn’t happen overnight. It takes hard work and a lot of try again thinking. If your business needs a helping hand, the Advisors at WK are always ready to help. You can get in touch with them here.