Ensure Success in 2009 using a Strategic Business Plan

Make a Strategic Business Plan

Ensure success in 2009 by making a strategic plan for your business this year. After a hectic Christmas season, and a January clean up, February for most retailers means the start of a fresh new business year. This is a time to reflect on 2008 and finalize plans for the year ahead, both for you and your business.

I challenge all of you to take a few hours away from the office and your store, and dedicate some real focused time towards strategic planning and goal setting. Ideally, you’ll be able to get away for a full day with your key person (or people) to do this. In my books, a full day means a full day. As hard as it will be, don’t even step foot inside the store for one entire day.

To help you in your planning process, I’d like to share a two-part thought process that has served me well over the years.

Part One – Long Term Outlook

First, it’s important to really think about what you want your business to look like in the future. Take time and think five years out.

-          Where do you want to be personally five years from now?

-          What will your business look like given your personal goals?

-          Do you want to grow your company? Or would you rather keep it the same size and grow profitability?

-          Do you want more independence from your business?

-          Do you want to expand your business? Open at another location? Move locations?

-          Do you want to retire?

Really take the time and get a clear picture of what you want your personal/business life and your company to look like five years from now. Get a clear vision for what you want it to look, feel and be like. No matter what you do in life, knowing where you’re going is literally half the battle.

Part Two – One Year Outlook

Once you know where you want to be in five years, bring your thoughts back to what you want your business to look like a year from now. Keeping your long-term goals in mind, what do you need to accomplish over the next year that will get you started on your path towards your five-year outlook?

-          What do you want to accomplish financially for your company?

-          Look at your team – what changes can you do in order to strengthen your team of employees?

-          What tasks or projects do you want accomplish this year in order to set your business up for success five years from now?

-          What new business do you want to go after?

-          What performance standards do you want to set for yourself and your business?

Now really take time and think about what it is you need to set out to do this year. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know what direction to head in tomorrow morning when you return to the office?

Goal Setting

Setting SMART goals

When setting goals, make sure they’re S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely). You want to make sure that they are all those things. By doing this, you’ll be able to measure your performance against your goals.

One suggestion – Don’t bite off too much. You don’t want you to set yourself up for failure. I suggest setting no more than three to five objectives per quarter, and 12 to 15 objectives at most, for the year. I often have a yearly objective that is broken down into four parts, by quarter.

As much as possible, break down your yearly objectives by quarter and then by month. Measure yourself (with your team if possible) weekly to track your monthly and quarterly progress. Remember – bite size chunks are more likely to get done.

Although this certainly isn’t rocket science, it’s incredibly important and I believe it doesn’t happen with small business owners nearly as much as it should. We all too often get wrapped up in the day-to-day of running our companies that strategic planning gets put on the back burner, or doesn’t happen at all.

So book a day or at least a few hours sometime in the next week, and put a plan in place for your business to ensure a successful 2009!

Andy