All businesses have growth targets, but some are able to thrive, while others remain stagnant. The difference between them is the application of actions to achieve the desired objectives. That is why it is essential to have a successful strategic planning for your company.
Know the steps that must be followed to have an effective action plan for your business.
5 tips for strategic planning for a company
To build efficient strategic planning, you need to answer 3 fundamental questions: Where am I? Where do I want to go? How can I get there? See 5 steps to turn these questions into a project to achieve your goals.
1. Analyze where your company is
Before idealizing your goal the end is necessary to make a sincere assessment of your business. It is time to look at your numbers and the reality you are in.
How many products or services are offered? Which are the most profitable? Already investing in Digital Marketing? What are the biggest competitors in the industry? To facilitate this step, you can also resort to SWOT analysis (or FOFA), see:
- F: what are the company’s forces?
- O: which opportunities can be used?
- F: what are the company’s weaknesses ?
- A: which threats are compromising the business?
Once you know where you are, the next action is to know where you want to go.
2. Find out what your goals are
Now is the time to project the future of your enterprise. Don’t be afraid to be bold. After all, the higher your goals are, the further you will reach, even if you don’t reach the exact point in the early years.
For this step, remember to set smart goals. To facilitate this, use the SMART scheme:
- Specific: I want to increase my sales.
- Measurable: this growth should be 30%.
- Attainable: it is a realistic goal for the business.
- Relevant: this is important to increase the company’s branches.
- Time-based: I want to achieve this goal in 6 months.
Note that this objective is clear and with defined metrics, which is very different from thinking: I want to sell more.
3. Define strategies and steps for your action plan
At this point you need to know how you will achieve your goal of increasing sales by 30% in the next 6 months. What needs to be done to achieve this?
You may need to take actions like:
- training salespeople;
- encourage the productivity of the team;
- prospect new customers;
- to have more interaction between sales and marketing.
It is time to create the possible ways to get where you want to go. Hold a meeting with your employees and come up with ideas.
4. Implement and track metrics
Now that you know what to do, it’s time to apply your plan. Knowing the steps to follow, but always leaving it for later will not bring your goals to fruition. That is, if you need to invest in training, look for companies and training courses, for example.
After that, evaluate the new numbers. After putting the steps into practice, was there any positive change? Has the company evolved and is it closer to the goals that were set? If not, go to tip 5.
5. Adjust strategic planning
Your plan will not be perfect in the first version. Therefore, it is always necessary to return to it and see what can be improved. If you see that salespeople are struggling to reconcile capacitation with their working hours, think about how you can make this process lighter.
That is, note the flaws in your strategic planning and make the necessary adjustments. Also, keep it in view and don’t just keep it in a drawer. Remember: it is your map of success.
With these 5 tips for strategic planning, it will be much more practical to see the promising future of your business.
