Growth Plan Capitalizes on Advance Preparation
Written by Kelly Scanlon
Prior work makes developing your growth plan the “easy” part.By Margaret Reynolds
In this article of our series, we are entering the “let’s make it real” phase of your growth plan, designing the specific initiatives necessary to achieve it.
When you reach this stage, you have reached the “easy” part. “Easy?” you say, “How is that possible?”
At this point, you have already completed much of the “heavy lifting.” You have diagnosed the market and its opportunities, developed the strategic direction and established your competitive advantage. You have the information and framework you need to identify specific initiatives and set priorities. What is interesting is that so many plans start at this stage of establishing priority initiatives, and then the leaders don’t understand why it is so difficult. They haven’t done the heavy lifting first.
Taking it ‘Easy’
Let’s talk about why this is the easy part. So far, you have defined how the market is changing, and should have a competitive map that demonstrates your plans to change with it. You have captured your strategic positioning statement, which sets a precise course for growth. You also have completed your value proposition, which tells you what benefits you will deliver to your customers. And finally, you understand how your distribution mix will change over time. Now, all you have to do is identify what your company must put in place to accomplish what you have set out to do.
For many, it is helpful to start with a gap analysis. What are you currently doing that is consistent with the direction you have set and what do you need to put in place that you currently don’t have? Consider the following:
- What skill sets will you need to achieve your future? Which ones do you already have?
- What technology, equipment or space will you need that you don’t currently have?
- What new products or services do you need to offer?
- How do your operating practices and policies need to change?
- How will your message be different? How must marketing change to deliver the message to your identified target customers most effectively?
- Are there alliances you need to create or acquisitions you should consider to get where you need to be more efficiently or effectively?
Prioritize Resources
If you are like most companies, you now have a fairly long list. That list is probably longer than you can fund in the near term with resources available. So you need to prioritize.
Which of the items on your list will have the most impact and are thus most important? Which have to be done before others can be truly effective? Which are the most urgent? You may need to hire a new customer service manager before you change customer service operating policies or install a new customer relationship management system. After completing this assessment, rank your priorities in order, assign champions and ask them to further investigate the initiative. Just because you think you need it, doesn’t mean you know enough about it yet to act on it.
Some of the questions the champion needs to address include:
- What are the benefits and what are the drawbacks?
- How will we measure success?
- Who needs to be involved in making this happen and what resources are required? Where will the resources come from?
- What are the key steps to complete this activity and what are the milestone dates and measures?
- Do you recommend we proceed?
Once the team reviews the details of each initiative, re-rank the priorities. Understand how many initiatives the company can support at a given time and tackle those first.
Next, make a list of what you will stop doing. Yes, stop doing. There are two reasons. First, not all of today’s activities support your future direction—they are simply habit. Second, you may not be able to find resources to pursue your new initiatives without ending those that are not producing a sufficient return today.
Financial Forecasting
Now you are ready to complete a preliminary financial projection. The question to be answered is whether these initiatives and the accompanying resource shifts will generate the desired growth and return.
See, wasn’t that easy? Well maybe not easy, but certainly if the steps in previous articles were well-executed, the needs were much more clear than if you started with a blank sheet of paper labeled “this year’s priorities.”
Margaret Reynolds is managing principal of Reynolds Consulting, LLC. (816) 350-7680// This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
