Ask this 1 Strategic Planning Question to Make the Most of 2012
Posted by Chris Nesbitt on Thu, Jan 05, 2012
By: Chris Nesbitt, Client Advisory Director at Huntington Copper
Before we think about the 1 strategic planning question I’d like to highlight, let’s reflect for a few minutes on what is planned for 2012 and what happened in 2011. What is your strategic business plan for the next 12 months?
The last 12 months have come and gone. Are you pleased with what your business accomplished in 2011?
Was it a phenomenal year, reaching new levels of success?- Did you, as the business owner, get everything you were hoping to get from the business? Did you make the profit you wanted? Were you able to control your time or did you have to work longer, harder hours than you wanted? Was the business fun for you?
- Did your business slowly start to see an increase in revenue and profit compared to the previous few years?
- How did you business compare to other businesses in your industry?
- What improvements did you see within your business?
- Was your company culture one of simply surviving or one of thriving?
- Did your business encounter major obstacles you were not expecting?
- Did you have to fight off Company Culture Cancers within your organization?
- What do you wish would have been better about your business in the last 12 months?
Of course, there are many other great questions to ask to assess how your business did in the last 12 months at a deeper and more detailed level. However, whatever questions you ask yourself, it is important to understand whether what you experienced in the last 12 months occurred by evolution or by design.
In 5 Signs Your Organizational Structure Operates Like A Bicycle Wheel, Terry McGill stated:
“Most small businesses evolve over a period of time, in terms of their operational and organizational structure. They are not designed with certain parameters and results in mind, they simply evolve. Over a period of years, this evolution can be and usually is extremely detrimental to the owner or owners of that small business. The results will never be what the business owner or owners want them to be.”
If you were unhappy about what your business experienced and accomplished in 2011, it was most likely because it evolved to that end, as opposed to being designed for optimal results.
Unfortunately, strategic planning is often overlooked in small to medium sized businesses. This results in the business evolving to produce results contrary to what is optimal. Strategic planning is necessary for any business to succeed by design. If not given a proper direction, your business and it's employees will take on a direction of it's own, outside of your control. You, as the business owner, will typically end up managing from a reactionary standpoint as opposed to an intentional standpoint. The business will run you instead of you running the business. So, if you and your business TEAM have not already done strategic planning, we recommend doing so immediately.
As you plan for a great 2012, I believe this 1 strategic planning question is necessary to achieve the best results possible:
What is your business TEAM truly capable of accomplishing?
You can ask how your business compares to other businesses in your industry. You can figure out financial data points to report how your business has done compared to previous years. While there is value in benchmarking how your business is doing in comparison to other similar businesses, it is far more important to assess what your business is capable of. Nothing can beat taking a good look at your business TEAM and assessing what they are truly capable of accomplishing in the next 12 months, no matter how it's done in the past or compares to other businesses.
"TEAM" is a critical part of this question. Your business TEAM includes any of the business' owners, employees, outside advisors (CPAs, attorneys, business management advisors, marketing advisors, etc.). The human capital in your business is your greatest asset and has within it the greatest potential for your business' sucess. Ask your team members what they think the business is capable of and what they personally are capable of accomplishing. You might be pleasantly suprised at their answers. If they come up with the answer, they are more likely to follow through with accomplishing what they are capable of as opposed to you telling them what they should accomplish. It is important to give direction to your team but they should be involved in the process. Also, outside business advisors should be a part of your business TEAM so you can take advantage of their expertise and perspectives as well.
2011 may have had it's set of challenges. As we all know, the past is the past and there is nothing we can change about it. It's the time to say goodbye to the distractions of last year & focus on what you & your team can control now.
This year, expect to see blog articles and downloadable business management resources to assist you in making sure your business TEAM accomplishes what it is truly capable of accomplishing.
What is something your business TEAM is focused on accomplishing this year?
What are some of your upcoming challenges and concerns of accomplishing some of your goals?
As we also prepare to accomplish great things in 2012, we'd love to hear from you so we can more effectively create content and provide services that meet your wants and needs. Leave a comment here or give me a call.
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