When starting a business, all good entrepreneurs have a solid, data-driven business plan that acts not only as a reliable roadmap but a forecaster of where they want the business to be in five, ten years’ time. However, as the business grows and succeeds, these original plans can not only become blurry, they can be made obsolete by a wide-range of factors i.e., advancements in tech, economic downturns and pandemics (!)
This is where thorough strategic review and planning comes in. Done properly, this process helps the business owner identify new opportunities and enhances the performance of the business and the team that’s driving it.
Here are five things things you can do to update your business strategy:
1. Define your KPIs early on, and check them regularly
KPIs are the simplest, most effective way to know whether your business is in shape and headed in the right direction. Use them to create targets and, in turn, push motivation and accountability in your team.
2. Try a change of scenery
Being in the same working environment every other day might be good for establishing structure and routine, which is why is actually one of the worst environments to discuss strategy! To encourage original and daring ideas to flourish, you should go somewhere and/or do something a bit less formal. This doesn’t have to mean anything expensive and elaborate—depending on the size of your team, walking to a nearby park and sitting down under a tree for a couple of hours, or a conference room at a nice hotel are more than suitable places to enable creativity and lateral thinking.
3. Relocate your North Star
As stated in the introduction, as your business grows and you take on more staff and responsibilities, it’s very easy to lose sight of your original vision for the business. To reevaluate your strategic plan, or check that it’s still on track, revisit your your original mission statement. Perhaps you have some notebooks in which you first outlined your plans for the business—go back to these. How has that original vision turned out? Are you still sticking to those core beliefs? Do you need to change direction to keep your eyes on that North Star?
4. Don’t be afraid (or too proud) to change direction
It’s no good reviewing KPIs and receiving ideas and consensus on a strategy day if you’re not going to move forward and implement the things you’ve learned. It might turn out that your original plans for the business are flawed or have lagged behind somewhat—don’t be too proud or precious about things when the input from your team exposes this. Remember that you’re all in it together and all want to grow and become the best company possible. So take on board everything—praise, criticism, ideas—and don’t be hesitant to use it to set a new direction.
5. Take aim
Finally, after all the above is done, it’s time to set new targets. Give yourself and each member your team a list of, say, ten things required from everyone to effectively apply the new strategy. And don’t forget to review these lists the next time you step out of the office for your next planning meeting under the trees!
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