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How To Develop A Strategic Plan

 

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” - Benjamin Franklin

 

No matter what type of business you’re in, you need to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Basically, you’re aiming to achieve certain objectives to know that your business is successful.The focus of this article is not about success and how to measure it.

 

You need to lay the foundation before you build your house.

 

If you want to measure the success of your brand, you need to develop a strategic plan.

 

There are 6 steps to developing a strategic plan:

• Define the vision and mission.
• Analyze the current state.
• Set strategic objectives.
• Develop a tactical plan.
• Implement the plan.
• Review and adapt.

 

Pretty simply right? However, there is more to it than that. You need to understand what each step involves.

 

1. Define The Vision And Mission

 

-Hold visioning sessions with business partners to shape the company’s future.

-Envision potential scenarios to assist in developing ideas for your plan.

-Create an inspiring vision statement for guidance.

-Remember the core values of your brand.

-Identify how different parts of your business interact.

-Analyse business processes.

-Consider long-term impacts and unintended outcomes.

 

2. Analyse The Current State

 

-Use SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

-Identify the factors that contribute to majority of the results.

-Focus plans on these key factors.

 

3. Set Strategic Objectives

 

-Put in place clear and challenging objectives for the period of your plan.

-Determine how you are going to measure those results.

-Ensure that the objectives align with your vision, mission and core values.

-Determine alternatives for various strategic decisions.

-Prioritise tasks that will bring the best results or ROI.

 

4. Develop A Tactical Plan

 

-Create a detailed project plan with a task and time schedule.

-Allow room to make changes if necessary.

 

5. Implement The Plan

 

-Identify KPIs that align with your objectives.

-Use KPIs to assist making decisions and changes.

-Establish channels and and procedures for feedback.

-Analyse feedback to aid in adapting strategies.

 

6. Review And Adapt

 

-Evaluate performance across all sectors of your business.

-Measure and analyse results.

-Make strategic adjustments based on findings and recommendations.

-Learn from any setbacks to better the implementation of your strategy.

 

If you found this article informative and helpful, please remember to like, comment and share.

 

-Flux Dynamix