Without a business growth strategy, your business will never be as healthy as it could be, and you can even get sick and die. However, many small business owners miss the necessary business planning because they are stressed by time. Have you ever thought to yourself, “If only I wasn’t busy doing business!”
Business planning, on the other hand, doesn’t have to be a time-consuming struggle. In just two to three hours, you can put together the basics of a business growth strategy that can power your business for a full year. Unlike a detailed marketing strategy consulting firms, business planning is easier and straightforward.
Plan Your Business Development Strategically
Set aside two different business planning workshops on two different days. (It is not necessary that the days are consecutive, but they must be close in time). You can schedule your planning meetings up to a week apart.)
If you enjoy working in a group, join some like-minded friends who are also small business owners. With the contribution of other people, brainstorming as a social event becomes easier and more enjoyable. Keep your planning group small, however; no more than three people. The smaller the group, the more each individual can give.
Stage 1
Revise Your Business Statement
Because it is the source of your inspiration and drive, your business vision statement is the beginning point for any business growth planning. Do you envision yourself with so much work that you’ll need to employ help? Increasing your sales by threefold? Developing a reputation as the finest business of your sort in your community? Allow your imagination to go wild. What do you want your company to look like next year? In three years’ time? In five years’ time?
Write down your three business vision statements and articulate your business vision for each of the time periods indicated above. Don’t be afraid to write a business vision statement that conveys what you genuinely want your company to be and what you truly want to get out of it. The vision statement is intended for you, not your consumers or clients.
Assess Your Company Situation
Examining your company’s present situation is the second phase in your development strategy. First, the simple part. What are your company’s top three strengths right now? And what are your company’s three weak points? For additional information, see How to Do a SWOT Analysis for Your Business and this SWOT analysis example.
Now comes the difficult part: you must connect these strengths and shortcomings to your vision statement for the coming year. How will the three skills you’ve identified help you get closer to your goals for next year? How will your three flaws hold you back?
Consider and/or debate them, and then write down the three areas of your business that you believe are most important to focus on in order to achieve your vision statement for the coming year.
Assume my business vision statement is to triple my sales next year and make my product nationally renowned. Assume that my product’s characteristics (those who use it perceive it as a great product), my client base (the product is well-positioned locally, and I get a lot of repeat business), and my distribution method are also my strengths.
On the other hand, my company’s shortcomings are that it does not appear to be drawing a big number of new consumers, the product does not appear to be well-known outside the local region, and my marketing efforts do not appear to be effective.
Stage 2
Now that you just apprehend wherever you wish to set, the goal of this business designing session is to seek out the way to get there, providing you with a sensible action arrange for the approaching year for your tiny business.
The three areas of my business that people typically believed were most essential in terms of attaining my vision statement for next year were all closely connected in the first session. It’s possible that yours isn’t. Examine the three factors you’ve chosen and rank them from most essential to least important.
This is the stage of your business growth strategy when you turn your ideas into a plan of action.
First, go through your action plan. Put checkboxes next to ideas you believe are good, question marks next to ideas you’re not sure about, and lines through ideas you think are unworkable or ridiculous.
Conclusion
There is just one thing left to do: implement your action plan! A strong business development strategy can help you achieve your business goals.
