WHEN PLANNING IS NOT ENOUGH

Planning is an inevitable part of management. Whether you are one who runs a small enterprise or is a business mogul, you know for a fact that without planning, your business is going nowhere. The fact is, planning paves the way to your business’ success. If without this, you may not be well on the right track, and of course, you can’t expect your pursuits to go far. In some cases though, business owners and organisation managers would end up frustrated as about their plans; such as when reaching the end goals is a bleak perspective. What is to be blamed for this then? Why is planning suddenly a mere means to have a directive to get by on a daily basis? Why is planning not leading to the desired end goals? Why is planning not enough?

Among the reasons as to why planning just cannot seem to work towards your business’ goals is that it may not have been undertaken strategically– and that’s where the need for strategic planning begins. So what exactly is this strategic planning? And what makes it better than ‘planning’ per se?

What is Strategic Planning?

You do not have to be a business graduate or a marketing expert in order to understand what strategic planning is about and what it brings about. No one knows when this concept has been incepted, though the term has been coined later on as needed for the evident prevalence of the strategic planning as we know it today. Compared with just ‘planning’, strategic planning is more carefully thought of, as well as it is more intricate as regards its sub-planning stages.

Goals, Visions, and Missions

In strategic planning, your organisation’s Goals, Visions, and Mission are to be identified primarily. Now, Goals are both (not either!) long-term and short-term. domain name tech info Short-term goals may appear in projects, while in the case of smaller enterprises, small marketing or business plans too. The essence of goal setting is that through this, you are able to identify what your business is for, what purpose it serves.

Visions, on the other hand, are the ‘end in mind’. How do you see your organisation years from now? Do you intend it to be the leading brand in your market? Or do you simply want it to work as steadily as you aim it to be, leading into constant profits? Whatever your ‘vision’ is for your organisation, considering it and listing it out is a part of strategic planning.

Finally, identifying the missions of your organisation is another essential aspect of strategic planning. Without having clear missions in mind, your organisation may be working without a purpose. Note that as compared to Goals, Missions are broader in scope and may require your planning for the longest terms.

How to Arrive at These Goals– Feasible Plans of Action

Soon as you have identified your organisation’s Goals, Missions, and Visions, the next thing you should pay attention to is your plans of actions. Ask yourself how you intend to work towards these ‘ends in mind’? At this point, it is important to weigh too the capacities of your existing management team. First of all, know the limits of your resources. You do not want to be drawing out much funds and manpower that you cannot actually afford. Make sure that you work on plans of actions within your means. While it is not a bad thing to be ambitious when it comes to your management plans, it might be destructive if you overestimate your capacities too.

SWOT

Identifying your organisation’s Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats is an important part of strategic planning. At this point, you should know the limits and capacities in which you should work in and in within. To start off, you can fortify your organisation better if you work on improving your strengths better, while aiming to draw much demands on the aspects in which your organisation is weak at. As if one thing leads to another, doing this should also allow you to see the opportunities within as much as it allows you to identify the threats that you should equally avoid.

Competition Analysis

Remember that you and your competitors are on the same playing field; and you success will always depend on how better you play your game as compared to them. The same is true for both start-up and established businesses. With the right skills to play your business field, you can surely be on top of your game. While there are various means to achieve this, one most effective would be competition analysis. This happens when you start comparing the strategies employed by your competitor with that you have for your own. Do not get this wrong– this does not suggest that you settle being a copycat. What competition analysis suggests is that you take into consideration the existing effective strategies your competitors employ, and optimize it to your end.

Assistance in Investments– Better Decisions

The very purpose of strategic planning is, or course, leading you to commit better decisions. If you have a clear view of the entire capacities, limits, and opportunities to your business or organisation, you get to act on your plans more effectively. At this point, you get to commit to better decisions in general as well. You do not have to waste your resources nor commit to awful investments– maximizing your business’ potentials and profits along the way.

Brand and Market Recognition

With the right implementation of your strategically planned actions and goals, you get to achieve brand and market recognition; which of course inevitably come along with having a business that runs in accordance with a solid goal. But of course, this is something that you have to constantly work on within and beyond strategic planning.

Strategic Planning Does Not End– Thankfully.

It is important to note that strategic planning does not end. This is a cycle that requires constant improvement and attention. Your market constantly changes; along with the trends and its demands too– so should your strategic plans.