Strategic Planning That Actually Works: The Five Step Plan

Every business owner knows that planning is a good idea. The problem is that planning takes more time than most business owners feel they have. It’s a catch 22. But one thing is certain: it's impossible to get off the entrepreneurial treadmill without stopping to think about where you want your business to go.

What follows is a simple five step plan for creating and utilizing one of the most important documents an entrepreneur will ever write. The goal is to create a window into your future that you and everyone connected to your company can use as a target. It’s called a Strategic Objective, and two or three pages will usually do it.

Step One: Take your inventory.

Start by taking your business inventory. I’m talking big picture stuff here, not widgets in your warehouse. What shape is your business in as a whole? Where do you sit in relation to your competitors? How profitable are you? Be honest with yourself about the good, the bad, and the ugly. After all, you can’t make good strategic decisions about your business if they’re not based in reality.

Step Two: Analyze your environment.

Next, take a good hard look at your business environment. What are your competitors up to? What are they likely to do in the future? Is your market growing or shrinking? Is technology having an impact on your industry? For example, the popularity of ring tones has had a significant impact on businesses designing mobile phones.

Step Three: Dream about your future.

Now that you’ve faced your “current reality”, the real fun begins. Planning starts with dreaming. After all, a goal is just a dream with a timeline. Mentally place yourself into the future. Not too far into the future that it becomes impractical, and not too soon that you don’t have time to accomplish anything worthwhile. Typically about 3 years is good.

Step Four: Write your plan.

Now start writing. How large will your business be? How profitable will you be? What will be unique about your business? Why will people choose to buy your products or services, as apposed to the other options available to them? Will you own your own building? Will you franchise? Will you acquire other businesses? Will you move into new markets? And so forth. Let your mind go, and explore the exciting possibilities of your future.

Step Five: Share your plan

A Strategic Objective will become the target that guides the continuous development of your business, and as such, it must be inspiring to both you and your stakeholders. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure you have complete “buy in” from your people. People may not get all that excited about going to work, but they can certainly get excited about pursuing a cause. So what’s your cause? Where is your business taking you and everyone attached to it? If it’s taking you somewhere worth while, you won’t need to worry about finding great people anymore. They’ll seek you out themselves.