Strategic Thinking & Business Planning
Success Starts With a Plan
No matter how large your company is now, without clear strategies and precise business goals, future success may become elusive. We wonder why so many organizations resist thinking and planning and instead choose to flounder unnecessarily.
Having worked with hundreds of organizations in more than 70 industries, Paradigm Associates understands how valuable comprehensive strategic planning can be to a company. Helping executives through this process is one of the things we do best, and we've seen the dramatic results it can bring.
Is Your Strategy Failing (Or Non-Existent)?
Ask yourself:
- Is my organization's business performance in decline with no clear strategies and tactics in place to deal with the true problems? Is esprit de corps falling?
- Are people at all levels seriously worried about the competition taking away market share?
- Are there staff members, particularly those with longevity in the company, who still don't know what the current mission and objectives really are?
- Do our executive management and ownership meetings often end in disagreements over philosophy? Are there frequent what-do-we-do-next discussions? Is mistrust and sniping toward others creeping in?
- Are problems involving work schedules and missed deadlines becoming more frequent? Is active cooperation between teams and top leaders rare or nonexistent? Is there competition for scarce internal resources, turf guarding, and people jockeying for position within the firm? Are members of various teams or departments doing their own thing without a coordinated, cohesive plan that everyone adheres to?
These symptoms are telltale signs that a review of your strategic and business plan is strongly recommended for immediate action.
Our Process is Different
Paradigm Associates' approach to strategic planning is hands-on; we don't spend a few hours with you and then deliver a report. Nor do we just tell you how to develop your plan and walk away. We work with you to develop a vision, strategy, and plan that you want to implement.
Not Just Planning - Strategic Thinking
We help you go beyond simply developing a tactical or operating plan for the future. You will further develop your strategic thinking capabilities.
That means you will come away from this process knowing:
- How to challenge the assumptions you've made about your business
- How to ask the right questions about your vision, strategy, and plan
- Why you need to examine parts of your business in a new way
- How to discover the solutions you need right now and in the future
Strategic and Business Planning Map
How the Timing Works
We understand there is never enough time in your day, so our process is designed to be extremely flexible. You continue the daily running of your business while going through the process. We work with you to decide the frequency and duration of your implementation sessions.
Typical Strategic Business Planning Elements
Strategic Business Plan
- Strategic Planning - Your roles, five stages of strategic planning, and creating a vision statement.
- Developing a Competitive Edge - External assessment, customer segments, competitive analysis, trend analysis, internal appraisal, and organizational structure.
- Effective Planning Techniques - Business planning, developing a mission statement, and shortening your learning curve.
- Execution Is Everything - Critical goal categories and business planning goals.
Marketing and Sales Plan
- Marketing communications
- Sales support
Generating and Retaining Profits
- The Sales Process
- Financial Planning
- The Review Process
Becoming a Customer-Driven, Enduring Company
- Determining customer needs
- Handling Complaints
- Consistency
- Integrity and Values
Outline of the Strategic Thinking Workbook
The workbook contains a series of thought provoking questions that ask you to conduct a detailed analysis surrounding both external and internal aspects of your operation.
Basic Foundation and Desired Business Objectives
- Why Are We In Business?
- What Are Your Short And Long Term Objectives?
- What Are Your Key Assumptions?
- >Responses by competition
- >Economic trends
- >Ability of others to develop products to replace yours
- Visioning Tools
- >Where do you want to be in five, ten, twenty years, etc?
- >What is the scope of the business?
- >How will you be different from competition?
- >How will various aspects of your business need to change over time?
Determining Your Vision and Values
- Creating a Timeless Vision
- Creating Values & Principles
- >Determining stakeholders
- >Defining corporate values
- >Challenging your commitment to living those values
Creating Your Mission Statement
- How to realize the vision
- What is being done
- For whom it is being done
- Desired end results
Conducting the External Assessment
- Market Segments And Opportunities
- >Customer needs satisfaction
- >Who and why someone buys from your company
- >Market share issues
- >Share of wallet issues
- >Perception issues
- >Reputation issues
- Competitive Analysis - Offerings
- >How your products and services compare to your current and future competition
- Competitive Analysis - Company
- >How your organization compares to your current and future competitions' capabilities
- Trend Analysis
- >The impact of various trends upon your future business and vision
Conducting the Internal Assessment
- Analyze Structure vs. Functions
- >Conduct a detailed analysis surrounding your operation
- Examining Available Resources
- Determining Strengths, Limitations, Opportunities and Threats (S.L.O.T) Analysis
Refining Critical Success Factors (CSFs)
Evaluating Processes & CSFs
Determining Intermediate Milestones
Identifying Potential Obstacles
Establishing Goals & Key Results (GKRs)
Refocusing Marketing & Sales Plans
Linking Marketing & Sales functions with Intermediate Milestones
- Examining Segmentation Decisions
- Examining Marketing Communications
- Determining Sales Strategies to Employ
- Examining Customer/Client Service Structure and Function
Determining Financial Projections & Review Procedures
- Forecasting Sales and Revenue Levels
- Forecasting Expenses
- Reviewing Capital Requirements Needed to Execute the Mission
- Creating Review Procedures
Executing Your Plan
- Creating Team & individual GKRs
- Establishing Quarterly Themes & GKRs
Components Available to Achieve Results
- Written Materials - to ensure everyone starts with the same level of knowledge.
- Audio Materials - to help knowledge become internalized through reinforcement and spaced repetition.
- Action Planning Workbook - to help distill thought processes and challenges.
- Participant Interaction - to develop a high level of consensus and commitment.
- Professional Facilitator - to maximize the beneficial outcome.
Contact Us, and let's discuss how we can help you.
Discover for yourself how powerful "Breakthrough Thinking for Your Real World" can be.
In our never-ending quest to serve you to the fullest, please do not hesitate to call, write, or email us with any of your pressing issues or concerns. Your thoughts and suggestions enable you to make us the absolute best in professional services!