I need a Strategic Plan – Part 1
Everything should start with a plan, even a wedding event. I love to apply marketing in my everyday as well as planning but now let’s get to business. Why create a strategic plan? A Strategic Plan is a document that will define what your organization stands for and how your company chooses to compete in that market. While it sounds a bit complex let’s break it into pieces.
Why is a Strategic Plan so important?
Three main principles of strategic planning.
- Be consistent and set a clear direction and stay in your lane
- Say “no” to distractions
- Make sure you diversify where you spend your resources
Steps I need to take to accomplish my Strategic Plan?
- Identify the team – individuals who are working on the strategic plan.
- Identify deliverables in the process. Define a time line and who is responsible for what section in the project.
- Analyze the market with Porter’s five steps, SWOT. Look at common themes in SWOT. Define your mission, vision, guiding principles, goals and your strategic filters and resources.
- Determine your core competences
- Brainstorm for initiative relative to the strategic filters.
- Analyze how your initiatives are going to work against the strategic filters. Prioritize your initiatives.
- Analyze your proposed initiatives based on market validation, the financial analysis, the execution considerations.
- Analyze what resources you will need to accomplish the initiatives.
- This process can be ongoing.