The last blog got us closer to the thing we often jump to first … doing. We are often so ready to do that we don’t take the time to plan. Patience and faith are the virtues of small business success. You have to trust the formula of success, which is through deliberate planning and actions. We might have our own way of reaching our destiny, but we must work within the proven framework. The elements of the strategic plan covered in this blog series include: vision, mission, goals, strategy and tactics. There are many more elements that we can dive into, but the purpose of this series is to keep it simple and make it possible for you to start what can seem to be an arduous and intimidating process. Even if you don’t complete your strategic plan yourself, understanding the basic elements will allow you to communicate the foundation you want your company to be based on. It will also help you understand that even if you hire a consultant to assist with your strategic plan, you play a key role in ensuring the plan supports your organization’s vision, mission and goals.
In the last blog I discussed goals; in this blog I will overview your strategies. Your strategies are the first level of “how.” How will you reach your goals? We are not dealing with a detailed plan of action yet— just the approach. For instance, if I plan to solve world hunger, I included a goal of solving world hunger in three continents by 2010. My strategy may be to first take care of home, then go to Africa and then Asia. The tactical plans would have the details such as my route, the timeline and the mode of travel.
Strategic Approach
When thinking strategies for your organization, you will want to consider all aspects of the organization. Here are some areas you might want to consider as you formulate your approach:
- Growth. How you intend to grow will play into your other strategies. Some questions you will have to answer are:
- How long do you want to be in business?
- Do you plan to sell your business in the near future?
- Do you plan to stay a “one-person” shop or expand your organization?
- Do you plan to expand internally or do you plan to expand through acquisitions and partnerships?
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As you answer these questions, you will see why I recommend limiting your vision to three years—it will help keep you from being too overwhelmed. For example, our plans for growth at jowanna inc are relatively conservative. We plan to concentrate on validating our business model before pursuing a larger market share.
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Product & Pricing Strategies. Some of the questions you will want to answer include:
- What kind of product or service mix will you offer?
- Will you be offering high-end or lower-end products?
- Are any of your products seasonal?
- How will you render service?
- What kind of resources do you need?
- Will you offer a range of price points?
- Does your pricing match the image you have for your product?
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For instance, our strategy is to let our consulting, strategic and business plan writing services guide us on future services. We will concentrate this year on making adjustments to how we deliver our services. Then we will also explore ways to reach a wider audience. In order not to compromise the quality of the service, we have to price in a manner that will support the business and we will find ways to make it economical (for instance, group consulting and creating a program that allows potential entrepreneurs to spread payments over a longer period as well as become technically and emotionally prepared for business ownership). The hard questions we are answering include: What services can we offer in a group setting? How can we reach a wider audience? Do our price points support our efforts? We believe strategic planning should drive your operational, technological and marketing needs. Unfortunately, it is easy to get a solution before even knowing what opportunities or problems you might have.
- Sales, Marketing & Distribution Strategies. Your sales and marketing strategies answer the following questions:
- How will you reach your market?
- How will you ensure your product appeals to your market?
- How will you get people to buy your product or service?
- What incentives will you use to increase sales?
- What’s your plan regarding service fulfillment and delivery?
- Will your company deliver services virtually or face-to-face?
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Our company looks to penetrate the market through brand establishment. We are a “one-person” shop in terms of client-facing associates. We want one contact accountable for service fulfillment. We are utilizing my extensive business and technology experience as well as my passion for service to brand the company. We hope to transfer my personal brand to the company. Personal interaction is important. Social media outlets allow us to create an intimate setting in the virtual world. These are just a few examples of our strategies to market, sell and distribute our services.
- Operations, Management & Funding Strategies. Some questions you will want to answer in terms of operational, managerial and funding strategies are:
- How will you run your business operation?
- What will you do to attract the talent you need?
- Will you outsource or hire help?
- What kind of systems will you have in place?
- Will you have a virtual or physical location?
- How will your company be run?
- Who will manage employees?
- Will you have a centralized location?
- How will you fund your business?
- How will you fund the growing needs of your business?
- Will you be privately owned or publicly traded?
- Are there opportunities for partnership?
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Our company also has to answer tough questions. With tough questions sometimes comes the arduous task of finding the right solutions. You won’t be able to answer all the questions right away. Have a high-level plan of attack and pick the ones you will tackle first. We will review the goals I shared with you in the last blog and then some of the strategies that I have in mind.
If you recall, my goals for jowanna inc for 2010 are:
- Publish four new blog series by the end of the year
- Establish a Facebook fan base of 5,000 by end of the year
- Achieve $180,000 in sales with a 20% profit margin
- Achieve an average revenue of $2,500 annually per client
- 100% client satisfaction
I chose to have a general approach as well as a specific approach to each goal. Here is an excerpt from my strategic plan:
General Approach
Our general approach to achieving our goals is to establish brand awareness in both our local and virtual communities. We will do so by ensuring we have consistency in our message. Our campaigns will be formulated so that we can deliver the same message in various formats. We will concentrate most of our advertising budget on our Business Strategy and Planning services. We feel this is critical to establishing ourselves as a company that concentrates on startup businesses.
Goal: Publish four new blog series by the end of the year
Strategy
We will publish one blog series per quarter. We will align the blog series with our marketing campaign and utilize blog series rollout to create documentation samples, presentations for seminars, Facebook photo albums, vlogs and podcasts. This will ensure that we send a consistent message using multiple communication mediums and align goals in a manner that allow us to maximize our accomplishments.
Goal: Establish a Facebook fan base of 5,000 by the end of the year
Strategy
Utilize organic and cost-based initiatives to grow our fan base. We will utilize Facebook advertising, recommend page to friends, ask close family and friends to recommend fan base to the page and utilize website and print media to invite people to join us on Facebook.
Goal: Achieve $180,000 in sales with a profit margin of 20%
Strategy
We will take a multi-faceted approach to achieving our goals and they will include the following:
• Running revenue-targeted campaigns
• Utilizing our blog site, website and social media outlets to display campaign ads
• Offering webinars to introduce our services and offering group consulting
• Identifying opportunities to expand services that clients use
• Running ads that target potential clients very early in the process, which will increase the likelihood of utilizing additional services (i.e. business plan, web design and technology solutions)
• Volunteering at local organizations such as Chambers of Commerce
Goal: 100% Client Satisfaction
Strategy
Document our process and identify key success indicators within the process. Develop methods to get continuous feedback during each stage of our service-rending process.
This process may be a little intimidating but it is worthwhile. Don’t be afraid to hire a consultant to help you navigate through your plan. It can save you hours of frustration. You do want to at least understand the process so that you will know how to execute your plan. My final blog for this series will deal with the nuts and bolts of the strategic plan: your detailed plan of action—the tactics you must implement. Before action must be in-depth planning; before in-depth planning you have to decide on your approach. Taking the time to strategize how you will approach your goals will help you mind your business.
Related Links
The Strategic Plan: Your Road Map to Excellence (Part 1- Your Vision)
The Strategic Plan: Your Road Map to Excellence (Part 2 – Your Mission Statement)
The Strategic Plan: Your Road Map to Excellence (Part 3 – Your Goals)
Alpha Teach Yourself Business Plans in 24 Hours
About The Author
Jowanna Parris-Daley owns and operates jowanna inc™, a small business consulting company that offers services including business plan writing, e-consulting, website design and technology services for startup businesses.
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