Strategic Planning for Growth

Submitted by Mitch Seigel on Mon, 01/16/2012

They say that our personalities are established well before we are seven years old. I would have to agree. While I have been tested several times and always come up as a driving personality, I have to believe that I also have a lot of analytical tendencies in me as well....

When I was a kid, my mother would only allow me to play with one toy at a time. So if I changed my mind and wanted to do something different, I had to put the toy I was playing with at the time away first, before I took out the next toy, and so on and so on…

Too many businesses are ‘pulling one toy out of the closet, after another,’ without any rhyme or reason, and essentially are then left with a mess to clean up at the end of the day. I need to send in my mother for a clean up!

All kidding aside, the principles I was taught by my mother can be transferred over to the business world as part of strategic planning principles. Start with baby steps, and then take bigger ones before trying to run. Generally the first step leads to the next, and so on. You don’t start running first and then learn to crawl.

Growing your business, through strategically planning the outcome, occurs because of the process itself. Naturally you need creative people to develop the tactics and action steps to achieve the plan. Having the basic strategy is essential to move forward.

If your personality is unlike mine, then bring in partners who can be that strategist you need to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or the forest through the trees. It is amazing to see it all work its way out if you only play with one toy at a time.

What are your challenges when it comes to strategic planning? I look forward to hearing your comments. Until next time …