Strategic Planning is powerful for small business success | Business ...

?Strategic planning is a waste of time.? That?s what one business owner told me recently as we were talking about business success. According to this business owner, spending time and resources on planning just slows the business down. His view of planning is quite common among small business owners but it flies in the face of the facts.

Businesses that plan regularly and work those plans consistently are more than twice as likely to succeed as those that don?t. This is especially true for small and medium sized businesses. In fact, the smaller the business the more impact planning can have on success. Here are four reasons why you need a strategic plan.

1. Planning defines purpose. Call it what you will: vision, purpose, strategic goals, it all boils down to the same thing. Great organizations have clarity of purpose that keeps everyone involved pointed to the right objective. They have a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (a BHAG) that everyone on their team is working toward. They know where they are going.

World famous free climber Todd Skinner sees it this way: ?To succeed on an expedition you must think from the summit back because all decisions are based on the destination? Wow, what a powerful truth. If you don?t know your final destination, your purpose, then how can you possibly make the best decisions day by day or month by month? Every decision you make without that purpose is just a guess that may or may not prove valuable. Even then, it is almost impossible to fully define value because you don?t have a destination to measure against. In short, you can?t know if your successful because you have not defined what success looks like.

2. Planning establishes direction. Legendary coach Don Shula once said, ?A river without banks is just a large puddle.? The point is clear; you need boundaries to create direction. Planning is one of the most powerful tools available to you and your organization to create those boundaries. When you engage in a planning process you set future goals and objectives and define the path you will follow to achieve them. When you don?t plan you risk operating without direction and without purpose. The result can be a stagnant organization unprepared to take advantage of opportunities and unable to achieve its potential.

3. Planning creates unity. Have you ever gone to an amusement park with a group of children? It can be a real adventure. Unless your circumstances were very special, you probably saw the children at least trying to head off in several directions at once. Every ride, game, store and eatery catches their eye and they immediately want to go there. Without some clear plans it is easy to lose control of the group. When plans are clear, though, even the most rowdy groups can be managed because they share unity of purpose. The plan will include a list of the places you will visit, the rides you will go on, times you will meet up with other members of the group and so on. With this in hand your group will find that everyone is on the same page and moving toward the same goals.

Your business or organization is just the same. When you have a plan that everyone shares, your entire team is focused and they find it easier to work together. Each member of the team understands how their role fits into the plan and can see themselves contributing to the success of the organization.

4. Planning builds commitment. Have you ever noticed that when you don?t have a specific destination in mind it is hard to keep going in one direction? I love to hike in the mountains. It is peaceful and challenging, all at the same time. Here?s the thing, though, when the trail gets tough it is really important to know where we are headed. If we don?t have the destination in mind, it is easy to look at the trail ahead and decide that it is too hard to go on. The more people you are trying to take with you on the trip, the more important this becomes. If you want your team to stay on the path with you, give them a plan to follow and a goal to achieve and your chances of success will be great. Ask them to face a challenge without the plan and you will find many of them looking for a way out.

So, what?s your plan? Have you already defined your BHAG? Does your team know where they are headed and why? If you can answer yes to all these questions you are one of the few. If you answered no to any of them, you have an unbeatable opportunity to invest in your success. Make the right move today and get started on your strategic plan. Put the plan in place and you will see better results on every level of your organization. If you want the plan to give you the most opportunity imaginable, use a professional to facilitate your process and guide your team in building the plan.

Want to know more about how to create and implement your plan? CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE a no risk consultation to discuss your options and get you headed in the right direction.

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Source: http://estradastrategies.com/knoxville/2012/02/28/is-planning-a-waste-of-time-for-small-business/

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