Having a strategic plan in place is critical to the success of your business, and yet the majority of business owners haven’t implemented a plan and don’t think they need one.
According to CEO and Founder of Teach it Forward Trent Taylor, most people go into business for some key reasons, but then never have a formal plan on how to get there.
“Most entrepreneurs are driven by the search for financial freedom, extra time for themselves and their families, freedom of choice and to leave a legacy. But these are the last things business owners plan for.”
“Very few businesses are achieving any kind of freedom. They are slaves to their businesses, working long hours for little return.”
Taylor said that if owners spent some time mapping out where they want to go and how they’re going to get there, it will make a significant difference to the outcome.
“Business leaders need to inspire and lead their team to take the business to the next level and the best way to do this is to ensure everyone is aligned and working to one common and inspiring goal.”
“Without a strategic plan your business will not hit the long terms numbers and every member of your team could be heading in different directions.”
According to Taylor, some issues a strategic plan will solve include:
- Being able to make critical decisions much easier for the growth of the business;
- Stability and longevity of staff;
- Business partnerships not “truly” working together and actually against each other – which leads to expensive and stressful break ups and
- Getting to the end of each year and feeling unclear and/or unsatisfied as to what you actually achieved in the year.
If any of the above things are happening in your business, a succinct and clear strategic plan is needed.
“Alignment is a must between you, your business partner and your team. If you are aligned everyone will be working to the one common goal and you will get there much easier and faster than you could ever imagine,” Taylor added.
