Of course, you need to think about the long-term future of your business. Strategic planning is essential for any business. It is the blueprint that indicates the direction in which a company wants to develop. Often, strategic plans are full of beautiful dreams and ambitious goals. Entrepreneurs enthusiastically describe their vision, mission and the cool products and services they have and/or want to develop.
But is your plan also clear about how these dreams and goals should be achieved?
A good strategic plan should not only inspire, but also provide direction. It should make clear which steps need to be taken to achieve the set goals. This means that attention should be paid to the practical implementation: who does what, when and with what resources?
Strategic plans often get stuck in abstract terms. They describe the ‘what’ and the ‘why’, but forget the ‘how’. This leads to confusion and lack of focus within the team. Employees know what the end goal is, but have no idea how to get there. This is similar to a road trip without a road map: you know where you want to go, but not how to get there.
That is why it is important to also pay attention to the execution when drawing up a strategic plan. Set clear, measurable goals and determine which resources and actions are needed to achieve them. Make sure that everyone in the organization understands what their role is and how they can contribute to the success of the company. For example, is it really clear how you are going to acquire customers, who is responsible for this and what actions are needed for this?
A strategic plan should not only inspire, but also be practical and executable. Only then can the dreams and goals of a company become reality. That requires discipline from you and your team. Make sure that at least three quarters of the meetings are exclusively about the how. And don’t stop until you collectively really believe that there is a feasible plan to make your dreams come true.