The best way to find success is to PLAN for success! Whether your business just had a record sales year or if you’re just “above water,” the beginning of the fiscal year is the best time to develop a Strategic Plan.
Many businesses owners attempt to start new projects or make changes to their business or financial models at the beginning of the year, often in January. These “resolutions,” however well-intentioned, have a 90% fallout rate by the first week of February. Initiatives that fail are often due to a lack of both planning and progress monitoring, ultimately leading to a reversion back to old, familiar business habits.
It’s a typical scenario; leaders get fired up at the dawn of a new year, ready to start on a path towards a prosperous new year. They apply new strategies to their business, send out memos to get the staff on board quickly, and enforce new rules strictly for about a month. However, these new ideas are often unplanned, “shooting from the hip” methods that usually don’t last longer than a month. Very quickly, the staff find themselves back to the same old routine with another “Hey, remember THAT plan?” topic for gathering around the water cooler.
A successful Strategic Plan will not wind up being a water cooler topic but will be embraced and implemented by the staff. This outcome will occur only when the plan has been thoroughly researched, designed, explained, and then applied with careful execution. The best place for a business to begin is to adopt a simple, one-page strategic plan, or 1PSP. A 1PSP provides all the information employees need to know in order to adopt and implement your new Strategic Plan – the speed at which the plan will take effect, the direction it will take the organization, the growth rate brought on by the plan, and the expectations and awareness that the organization needs in order to drive their business. The 1PSP is a dashboard of information that employees should be able to reference when any questions arise about the new Strategic Plan; its use will help your business reach its goals and avoid bumps in the road along the way.
The expert financial consultants at Vesta are highly experienced in assisting business owners in developing and applying successful Strategic Plans. Our Accounting Firm takes short-term resolutions and turns them into long-term solutions that facilitate growth, development, and success. It’s never too late to begin developing a new Strategic Plan, so if your goals are to grow your business, strategize for success, and maximize your potential for profits, contact a Vesta consultant today. We can’t wait to work alongside you!
