Planning
Entrepreneurs and business managers are often so preoccupied with immediate issues that they lose sight of their ultimate objectives. That's why a business review or preparation of a strategic plan is a virtual necessity. This may not be a recipe for success, but without it a business is much more likely to fail. A sound plan should:
- Serve as a framework for decisions or for securing support/approval.
- Provide a basis for more detailed planning.
- Explain the business to others in order to inform, motivate and involve.
- Assist benchmarking and performance monitoring.
- Stimulate change and become building block for next plan.
When it comes to the topic of strategic planning, many business leaders are heard uttering the following myths. Unfortunately, they are holding themselves, as well as their organizations, back.
Myth No. 1: "We’re too small of an organization to need strategic planning.” Even one-person organizations benefit from good planning. Without a vision, a plan and measuring results, how will you know how you’re doing? If you can’t measure your progress, you can’t manage it.
Myth No. 2: "Strategic planning should only be done once a year.” Strategic planning is not a singular event — it’s a process. While most organizations conduct strategic planning annually, it needs to be revisited on a quarterly basis in order to measure progress, align resources and implement necessary adjustments.
Myth No. 3: "We don’t need a strategic plan! Plans are too restrictive; we are entrepreneurial!” Every organization needs some type of plan to guide its activities and resources, especially during times of economic uncertainty. Without it, it’s too easy to "drift off course,” get distracted, and eventually find yourselves in firefighting mode. However, a strategic plan does need to be flexible to meet the demands of a changing world.
Myth No. 4: "We can do it ourselves — without any help.” It’s extremely difficult to participate in and facilitate the same strategic process meeting. A better way is to engage a trained business coach or facilitator to run the process, but not someone who tells you what your strategy should be. You need to uncover that for yourself through good facilitation.Myth No. 5: "Strategic planning interferes with our real jobs; we don’t have time.” For the leadership team, strategic planning is arguably the most important part of your job, as it determines the direction and focus of the rest of the organization. It takes real work to make a plan and more work to execute it. The alternative of leaving the direction of your business up to chance has a notoriously low long-term success rate.
To learn more, please visit the following topics
Business Planning
Strategic Planning
Financial Planning
Tax Planning
Estate Planning
Legacy Planning
Exit Planning
Print Page
