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Traditional business planning methods are seriously flawed.
They are generally viewed as a time consuming and expensive process. People don’t look forward to it; it’s not a “fun” experience.
My strategic game plan process is simple. Answer 3 questions and you have your strategy.
1. HOW BIG? The process starts out with determining your growth goals. how much top line revenue do you want to generate over the next 24 months ?
Revenue is the best measure of growth because it is an expression of how the market “feels” about you; it is easily measured understood.
A 24-month planning period forces you to execute TODAY and not wait for the “hockey stick” to happen in year 4 of a traditional 5-year plan.
HOW BIG drives the strategy . The bolder the growth goal the more aggressive and risky the strategy required to deliver it.
For example, a strategy to generate a 50% increase in revenue would be significantly different that one designed to produce a 10% increase.
2. WHO to SERVE? The second step in the process is to chose the customers you intend to serve. Pick customer groups that have the latent potential to deliver your revenue goals and leverage the competencies of your organization.
And be prepared to dump the customers that are no longer part of your strategic focus.
Keeping them will only drain your resources and waste your time with no economic return.
3. HOW to WIN? The third step is the most critical in establishing your game plan. This is where you decide how to differentiate yourself from others who are competing with you for the auto era you are targeting.
Engage your team in creating the ONLY statement for your organization. ONLY defines exactly how your organization intends to be different from your competitors, and it reads: “We are the ONLY ones that…”
ONLY sets you apart from others by stating what you do that no one else does - the real way to claim a unique competitive position in the marketplace.
When creating your ONLY, avoid aspirational thinking And be granular and detailed in crafting your ONLY. Aspirations merely capture lofty intent and have no place in thinking about your competitive position.
This is not a task for the faint-of-heart. It is difficult to do and involves looking at every nook and cranny in your organization for opportunities to separate yourselves from the pack - brand, service, product, product support, and how you leverage technology are some examples of where you can look to create your ONLY Statement.
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Integrate the answers to all three questions and you have your game plan.
“We will grow revenues from $20 million in 2017 to $50 million by Dec 31, 2019. We will focus our scarce resources on insurance and fleet providers in Canada. We will compete and win by being the ONLY distracted driving application that cannot be turned off by the driver of a vehicle.”
There you go. A game plan that is specific, crisp, simple and understandable .
That is focused on execution - develop your strategic game plan in less than 2 days and begin executing on the 3rd.