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A Strategic Planning System takes into account the following:
- A market analysis
- The strengths and weaknesses of your business
- The products and services you offer
- The resources that are available
- The goals, objectives and measures that you have established for your
business, etc.
The system then shows you how to develop a set of strategies and action
plans – and to arrange them in such a way that vastly increases your
chances of having a sustainable, profitable long term business.
At its most basic level, strategy has four simple components:
- Knowing where you want to end up
- Knowing what to put your energy against
- Knowing the methodology of applying your energy
- Knowing parameters for the inevitable end games
Strategic planning system includes the following major activities:
- Strategic Analysis - Typically includes conducting some sort of scan, or
review, of your business environment – and doing that on an ongoing basis.
Setting Strategic Direction - Coming to conclusions about what you must do
as a result of the major issues and opportunities facing your business.
These conclusions include what overall accomplishments you want to
achieve, how you will measure progress, and the high-level methods you
will use to achieve the accomplishments.
- Action Planning - Carefully laying out how your strategic goals will be
accomplished. Each goal should be associated with a tactic(s), which is /
are the methods needed to reach the goal. Action planning also includes
specifying responsibilities and timelines with each objective, or who
needs to do what, and by when. It should also include methods to monitor
and evaluate the plan.
- Creating Reserves – Reserves are a way to help you deal with the
unexpected. Reserves can be time allotted to deal with new opportunities,
outsourcing partners available as needed, joint venture or affiliate
partners, extra money, flexible work processes, etc. The point is, you
need to be able to respond to events as well as plan for them. Strategy
should be a roadmap but allow for the possibility of detours.
The strategic planning system helps keep your business venture on track
from the get-go without allowing for distractions that are inherent in
poor planning.
The system takes into account focus, accountability, and realistic
requirements, every aspect of the business venture must be itemized and
planned, consistent with your strategic plans.
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