Every important decision in life requires planning. Whether you are buying your first house, becoming an entrepreneur, retiring from your career, or exiting your long-term business, big decisions come with planning. At Business Transition Alliance, we understand the value of strategic planning, regardless of whether you have a small business or one of the biggest organizations in the market. Running any business requires strategic planning.

What is strategic planning?

A strategic plan is a written document that outlines the way forward for your business. Whether it is because you want to implement new policies, because you are going through a crisis, or because you are preparing to exit your business, a strategic plan lays out your company’s goals, expectations and objectives into actionable steps and explains why they are important. Writing a strategic plan can also help you uncover ways in which you can improve your performance.

It is safe to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected most businesses in some way. As mentioned in our previous blog post, a recent study showed that it could take more than five years for the most affected business sectors to get back to 2019-level contributions to the GDP. Many owners are reworking their plans to counter the impact of the pandemic on their business. But how can they ensure that all of the thinking that has gone into developing that plan is put into action?
Try these three steps.

1. Involve Your Staff

   Strategic planning allows for cultural transformation within organizations. By allowing your employees to be a part of your goals and objectives, you are also allowing them to promote open and creative exchange of ideas. Your employees want to be part of your success, and through including them in the strategic planning process, you are fostering collegiality and creating an opportunity for discussions to ensure that every stakeholder within your organization has unified goals and objectives.

2. Reassess and Refocus

   A strategic plan answers three important questions: “what is our purpose, what do we want to achieve, and how are we going to get there?” Having those answers written down in a single document ensures that your organization will continue to grow beyond your time as their leader and get through the most unprecedented times. It is important to note that these answers may change along the way, so reassessing what is working and what isn’t is crucial. Whether your business is going through a high or a low, every member of the organization is working together to ensure that they work in the same direction.

3. Talk About Your Progress

   During times such as the COVID-19 pandemic, we all need something to look forward to and work towards. Strategic planning gives everyone in your organization a sense of purpose, and the feeling that you are moving through this together, and most importantly – you have something that you can help each other achieve. Setting and achieving smaller goals along the way will allow your employees to celebrate the successes as you work through the plan and keep people motivated to carry on during these tough times.

Strategic planning is not an easy task, especially through such unprecedented times. Breaking strategic planning down into actionable steps can help you start small in order to win big. By allowing your stakeholders to be a part of this process, you can work together to find solutions and keep your organization on track, whether you want to exit, step-back, or grow your business. At BTA, we are always looking for ways to help business owners with the challenges that come with being a leader. Please feel free to contact us at contact@btahelps.com if you have any questions or concerns for your own organization. We can help!