A Company’s Future Doesn’t Just “Happen”
Strategic Planning Drives Growth
In a closely held or family business, the goals of the business are often tied to the personal goals of the owners/family members as well as the members of the management team. Estate planning and management succession are always areas of great importance to the owners. But before figuring out “who” will be running the company in the future, a Strategic Plan is necessary to address the “how”, “what” and “where” that will insure there is a future company to run.
There are four important components that your management team must clearly understand to be able to make, and continue to make, the smart decisions that will ensure the future.
 |
-
What is happening in your industry and market today?
-
What are your competitors doing about it?
-
How do your products and services stack up in both the industry and competitive landscape?
-
Do you have the right people in place to make it all happen?
|
Understanding your company’s current situation is a key phase in the strategic process. Everyone in your company needs as strong an “external” view as they have an “internal” view in order to do strategic planning that will have an impact. Very often, the internal view is predominant, leading to decisions made that are not grounded in the external world in which your company does business in.
The Strategic Planning Process
The output of the strategic planning process is a map that produces the key decisions that shape, clarify and communicates what your company is, what it does and for whom, and why it does it. By setting the stage, priorities and imperatives for action now and in the future, it becomes a reality check for an organization to orient its future direction to the following key areas:
- Strengths and Weaknesses of your organization and how it serves it various audiences
- Opportunities and Threats in your future environment to guide decision making
- Sets Achievable Goals and Objectives based on the internal and external environment
- Strategies and Policies needed to reach the desired outcomes
- Action plans that provide the tactics to achieve the selected strategies
Why develop a Strategic Plan?
Integrate...your internal view with the external marketplace
Make.........your company direction about the present and future, not the past
Move.........forward by building action plans that insure manager action
Stretch......your company’s goals by aiming at the right set of targets
Shift..........your direction from “business-as-usual” to new business growth |
