Taking control of your business
With Russia's invasion of Ukraine creating additional fiscal uncertainty in the UK and around the globe, economic growth slowed in February and, according to the Office for National Statistics, the UK economy is now only 1.5% above the pre-pandemic level in February 2020.
The pandemic put many businesses off-track in the short and medium term, but our most successful clients think long term and have a clear plan to get to where they want to be.
It is easier to get to your destination with a plan. We all know this simple truth. If you are driving from A to B, it helps to know where B is and the directions you need to take.
If you have a vision of what you want your business to look like when it is ‘complete’, then you are in a position to drive your business towards the vision and you can monitor how you are doing as you go along. If you do not have a strategic plan then you could get blown around like flotsam in the sea, ‘this way and that way’ without any control.
If we agree it is hard to accomplish anything without a plan, let’s start thinking about putting one in place. A strategic plan looks at all the things a business could do and narrows it down to the things it is actually good at doing. A strategic plan also helps you determine where to spend time, resources and money. So how do you do a strategic plan?
Take time to review your own personal objectives – the business is there to provide you with what you want from life, do not forget this.
Look at where you are now, your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Take external advice so you have a clear understanding of your position in the marketplace, the competition, your systems and the way you do things and what you are good at and what you are not.
Focus on where you want to be in (say) 5 years, what you want your business to look like when it is “complete” or running profitably and successfully. Then you can determine your priorities – the big issues that you need to focus on. This is the strategic plan!
Write down your vision and define what you must achieve and the actions you need to take. Monitor how you are doing towards your vision each month, what actions have been completed and what needs to be done to keep you moving towards your plan.
Allocate responsibility for taking the actions.
Monitor, review and adjust your regular activities to keep you on track towards your plan.
We have some useful tools and checklists to help you analyse where you are now, set a strategy, agree actions and monitor them. Please talk to us about how we can help you achieve your goals – we have helped many other businesses grow and succeed!
