The biggest mistake small businesses make is thinking like a small business.
WHAT IS STRATEGIC PLANNING?
You may have heard the term floating around, but what exactly does it mean? Strategic planning is making thoughtful, organized decisions that ensure a business’ success at a growing rate. Strategic planning clearly defines a business or organization’s mission, their current internal state, and their state within a competitive marketplace.
A business plan may take into account certain goals, most of them financial. Strategic planning takes this one step further. It incorporates business plans, scalable models, workflow restructuring, technology consulting, marketing and more.
THE BENEFITS
Strategic planning helps establish a vision between management, investors, employees, and share-holders. It gives all of a business’ decision-makers (CEO, CFO, investors, share-holders, etc) the opportunity to come together and determine the business’ future. They can establish goals, keeping the mission statement in mind, and determine key priorities. Strategic planning takes into account the business as a whole and sees how departments interact. Businesses can also reestablish workflow and provide a starting point for measuring progress.
The financial success is determined by how closely a business follows their customized plan. Strategic planning in and of itself is a powerful tool used to make sure everyone is on the same page.
WHEN TO PLAN
Strategic planning is a must, whether you are a brand-new startup or an established business. If you are starting out with a new business, meet with a strategic planning professional to ensure that your business doesn’t grow too big, too fast. The biggest mistake small businesses make is thinking like a small business. Focus on where you want your business to be five years from now, then make a strategic plan to accomplish your goal.
Use planning once every fiscal year to determine financial and long-term goals if your business is already well-established. Refreshing your management, employees, and investors, on your company’s business goals can ensure that everyone is working together to achieve a common goal.
Strategic planners specialize in how departments interact with one another. Consider meeting with a planner when opening a new department, releasing a new line of products or services, or restructuring. Many strategic planners also provide technology consulting so you can customize your software to your workflow.
With strategic planning, you can finally feel like you are ahead of the game, instead of struggling to keep up with it. Contact us for a free consultation to get started!
President and founder of DVI, Aaron Boerger realized early in life that he had a unique combination of x-ray vision and business acumen for seeing the weaknesses that held businesses back – and the ability to define the right tools, technology and strategy to make them stronger.
From founding a successful technology support business in his early teens, to serving as Chief Operating Officer for several companies in the financial, technology and marketing industries, Aaron has developed a reputation for reinventing technology implementation tactics – and the willingness to tell people not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear, in order to achieve success without overwhelm.
Aaron will always go the extra mile to provide the accountability and support his clients need to achieve their goals, yet isn’t afraid to tell them when they are doing something wrong.