1. 18 % 0191 461 8000 www.better-business.co.uk Better Business No 155
Business strategy
pricing, advertising and PR, as well as the
efforts and plans of our competitors.
The answer to the question, “How do
we see ourselves?” makes a statement
about the uniqueness, desirability and
competitiveness of our products and
services, as well as the efficiency with
which we are developing and promoting
them. It also helps to define our core
competencies, our abilities that are
difficult or impossible for others to
emulate and that give us an advantage
over the competition, and the
characteristics that our buying public most
appreciate.
How do we see the future?
We can’t predict the future, but we can
imagine it. One way of looking down the
road is to ask, “What are the driving
forces (technological, business and
economic, political, human and social, and
environmental) that will shape our
industry in the future? What elements
move our industry?”
Examples of driving forces include new
technology, a growing expectation of high
levels of customer service, etc.
Next, we fit our driving forces into
three future scenarios:
‡ A dog-eat-dog environment where
competition in our industry will be
more fierce than ever;
‡ An industry that is fundamentally
changed in some significant way;
‡ An industry that is the same as now,
only more dynamic.
We need to think about what our
organisation would have to look like to
compete in each of these three scenarios.
What technology would we have to use?
What kinds of products and services
would we need to provide? What abilities
would our personnel need?
We should also carry out a thorough
SWOT analysis – identify our strengths,
E
ven though difficult times
may lie ahead over the
coming year, you can not
only survive but thrive if you
plan your business strategy
carefully.
What are the steps involved in
developing a comprehensive strategic
plan? And once developed, how do you
ensure your plan will be put into use and
not gather dust on the proverbial shelf?
Before undertaking a strategic planning
process, you must first understand that
unless you involve everyone in the
business, the plan won’t work.
Your commitment to growth and
change breathes life into strategic planning.
Without it, planning is empty. For staff to
identify with the goals of ownership, they,
too, must play their part in helping to
develop the strategy.
With this in mind, strategic planning
involves answering at least four questions.
How do customers see us?
How do our customers see us, our
products and our service? Too often we
assume we know what customers want
without asking them. Or we depend on
our salespeople to tell us. Some owners
use surveys to try to understand what
their customers are thinking. But the
return rates on those surveys tend to be
skimpy, and those customers who do
return questionnaires rarely reflect the
entire range of opinion.
Even more problematic is the fact that
we often don’t know the views of our lost
customers – those who won’t come back
to buy, and those desirable customers
who have never bought from us in the
first place. Therefore, an early step in the
planning process involves interviewing a
sampling of three critical customer/client
groups: current customers, the ones we
have lost, and the ones in our target
group who have never bought from us.
The goal? To find out what they think
of our organisation, our products and
services, and our competitors in
comparison to us. Also, to identify what
they will need from us in the future.
‘Most great ‘plans’
are just nice ideas.
Calling something a
strategic initiative
doesn't make it
one’
How do we see ourselves?
How do we see ourselves and our
business environment? This portion of
planning comes in two parts: an overview
of our firm’s structure and systems, and
an analysis of our business and industry,
including our competitors.
There will always be a discrepancy
between how we see ourselves and how
others see us, between what we intend
and what others infer about our
intentions and expectations. In addition,
how we think we run our business will
differ from how our staff see it.
As a result, we need to find out their
perceptions and their recommendations
for change. We have to ask them in a
risk-free environment, while guaranteeing
confidentiality. This process of asking
employees is an important ingredient to
winning their full co-operation with our
goals. Without this knowledge, many
organisations will stall in their growth.
The second part entails looking at our
present and future markets, the products
and services we provide now and could
provide in the future, and the resources
(financial, technical, and human) we have
available to bring our product and
services to market. It also involves
examining our methods of distribution,
We face uncertain economic times and it’s
essential to plan ahead. Colin Thompson looks
at how to put together a strategic plan for the
future of your business.
Time to create a
strategy for survival

2. Better Business No 155 % 0191 461 8000 www.better-business.co.uk 19
Business strategy
Infobank
Colin Thompson has over 25
years’ experience in business
management, including business
turnarounds and takeovers. He
is also an international speaker
and university professor and has
written numerous research
reports, articles and books,
which are available from
his website.
%0121 244 1802
info@cavendish-mr.org
www.cavendish-mr.org
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
The essence of the SWOT analysis is to
discover what we do well, how we could
improve, whether we are making the
most of the opportunities around us, and
whether there are any changes in the
market that may require corresponding
changes in our business.
This analysis can also show potential
investors that all options open to, or
affecting, a business at a given time, have
been considered.
What are we going to do?
We now have three sets of data: how
our customers perceive us, how our
organisation is actually working and the
competencies we have in place, and what
we think our business needs to look like
in the future to remain competitive. What
do we do with it all?
By now it should be clear that we can’t
plan strategy by ourselves. Not only is it a
heavy burden for one or two people, but
implementation is problematic at best if
the people who have to carry it out are
not included in the process from the
beginning.
For these reasons, planning requires
different meetings between different
groups of people at different times.
Besides our staff, this could include get-
togethers with suppliers and distributors,
customer focus groups, and other local
businesses to see if there are
opportunities for strategic alliances.
A staff meeting, preferably away from
the office, to lay out the information
gathered so far would be the next step.
The task will be to lay out what the
business should look like in five years’
time, given the information in hand.
This should include the size of the
organisation, the products and services,
the various markets, delivery processes,
etc. Then the group needs to define what
the firm would need to look like in two-
and-a-half years to serve as a platform for
the five-year plan.
Most of the time is spent planning the
upcoming year of business, keeping in
mind the need to create a platform for
the two-and-a-half year vision as well as
the constraints and opportunities of
where the business is now. This plan
should be specific in terms of target
markets, financial goals, specific action
plans to reach these goals, and the
resources that will be needed.
So far, so good, but we’re not done
yet. The strategy has to be cascaded
down to an individual level until everyone
is going in the same direction. This step is
crucial to ensure that the strategic plan
will actually take hold and propel the
venture forward.
Involving all your staff in the process
will dramatically engage their loyalty and
boost productivity.
Plan carefully
It’s important your strategic plan is just
that – a plan. Most great ‘plans’ are just
nice, high-level ideas. Calling something a
strategic initiative doesn’t make it one.
It seems that many of our strategic
planning sessions stop half-way, before
there is a plan. Very little planning, if any,
goes into the implementation process.
Frequently the person with the great idea
is not an execution giant. A strategy
document almost never actually states
what is to be done from day to day or
lays down a way for employees to track
their actual progress. Most strategies stop
at the conceptual stage rather than
actually give very specific tasks to be
done.
Don’t assume that things will run
themselves after we get them started,
which is about as likely as being hit by
lightning while being eaten by a shark!
Instead, I suggest that implementing
strategic plans is more like keeping plates
spinning on top of pointed sticks.
If we don’t put forth a regular effort to
keep them spinning, the plates will fall
down and the sticks will end up in
uncomfortable places.
Strategic planning may sound onerous,
but it’s not if we keep it constantly under
review. With a good plan and the right
attitude, we will not only survive any
storms that lie ahead, but prosper v