As was said in Alice in Wonderland, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will do”. Why is it that so many businesses are started with a “Let’s try it and see what happens” mentality without planning, without thought to whether the business can be scaled to produce the profits necessary for a reasonable return for the risk? My experience has been that the first necessary step in any new business is to prepare a written Strategic Plan for the business. Most Strategic Planning starts with a step called “Vision”. Here the author writes down what the business will look like at a fixed point in time. I call it the helicopter view since it represents what you see from 5000 feet as you look down at your business. Facilities, products, locations, number of employees, organizational structure, markets, etc. It is best if the Vision conveys the passion, purpose and contribution to society of the business owner. Passion, not money, is what keeps a person and employees interested and motivated for the long haul. Think of what Jonas Salk’s Vision would look like “To create a vaccine that would reduce death and suffering for millions from Polio.” Is that a cause people could rally around with passion? You bet it is! I like to think of Strategic Planning as a five-step process:
- Business Vision
- SWOT Analysis
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Opportunities
- Threats
- Critical Success Factors
- Driving Critical Success Factor
- SMART Goals
- Driving Critical Success Factor
- Action Plan
- Goal
- Strategies
- Action Steps
- Annual Review
At Wallach Business Solutions, LLC, we have been helping Business Owners, like you, for the past 16 years create Strategic Plans. Call us to arrange a complimentary consultation to discuss this and other ways we can add value to your organization.
Alan V Wallach, JD, CAP, CPBA, CPVA, TriMetrix HD
Certified TAB Facilitator
SBL Certified
414.750.1642