By Hank Moore-Corporate Strategist™
These are the points at which a company must conduct a planning retreat to assess its own Big Picture and chart the process forward:
The Big Picture
The organization is not now what it started out to be.
There seems to be a need to change the direction of the organization.
No Vision was actually created…the organization just rolled with the flow.
Management is concerned that resources are not concentrated on important things.
Management of the organization seems tired or complacent.
Growth
Management is cautious and uncertain about the company’s future.
The company has grown too rapidly.
No-growth or slow-growth has occurred.
There is a need to step up growth and improve profitability.
People-Productivity
Apathy, low productivity and discord are exhibited.
Management seeks perspective and needs to be recharged.
There is a need to develop better information to help management make better decisions.
Individuals are more concerned about their own areas than for the overall organization.
Processes
There is a sense that company operations are out of control.
Management expresses a need for better internal coordination of company activities.
External-Marketplace
External forces threaten the status quo…and open up new opportunities.
The environment in which the organization competes is rapidly changing.
Did you ever wonder why some people have good ideas, and others make them succeed profitably?
Would it surprise you to know that one third of your efforts, money and resources will go toward reducing problems in your business this year? And if you don’t tend to issues as they occur, your high costs could multiply as much as six times per year.
Small business owners need all the tools they can get. Big corporations don’t have all the answers. Small businesses, in reality, have more flexibility to do something well and be more successful more quickly.
What Big Picture Growth Strategies Programs Accomplish
Here are 15 sure-fire steps to begin putting this information to immediate use in your business.
Number 1….Business cannot exist in a vacuum. You must put everything that you produce into a Big Picture context.
Number 2…..Recognize that there is a Big Picture, and be skeptical about niche consultants and vendors who purport that their approach is the only one.
Number 3…..Choose your advisors very carefully. Insist that they benchmark everything they do for you toward a Big Picture of your business.
Number 4…..You must have both a Sales Plan and a Marketing Plan as sub-sets of your Strategic Plan.
Number 5…..Advertising is a process, part of marketing and a cousin of sales. Running an ad here and there does not constitute advertising.
Number 6…..Have concurrent programs in your plan, including direct marketing, sales promotions, advertising, internet presence, specialty advertising, public relations and other marketplace presence.
Number 7…..Running a small business is tough. You cannot be a Lone Ranger. Develop a support system of friends and colleagues. Surrounding yourself with employees and consultants is not enough.
Number 8…..Always think about new products to create.
Number 9…..Never stop changing. Change is 90% positive. Every person and company changes 71% per year anyway. You might as well benefit from it, rather than become a victim of it.
Number 10…..Find ways to measure the success of every new initiative that you adopt.
Number 11…..Use my Business Tree as a way of always looking at the whole of any situation…then at the parts…and back to the whole again.
Number 12…..You never stop paying dues. It doesn’t get easier…yet, creative opportunities create more successes.
Number 13…..Take ownership of planning programs, rather than abdicate them to human resources or accounting people.
Number 14…..Predict the biggest crises that can beset your company. 85% of the time, you’ll prevent them from occurring.
Number 15…..Challenge yourself to succeed by taking a Big Picture look…while others are still thinking and acting small-time. Your biggest resource is a wide scope…and the daring to visualize success and then all of its components.
