Strategic Planning Articles & News
Executive Summary for Business Plans of Franchisees
Writing a business plan for a franchised outlet of a larger company to get funding or find investors is difficult because the franchisor already has a plan which is working, but until you are privy to it upon purchase you actually know relatively few details. The franchisor must keep this information proprietary to insure competitors do not steal the information, but the franchise buyer needs the information to prepare a business plan to get a loan from a bank. Thus a catch 22 exists and is ...
Do You Really Need a Business Plan?
"I don't need a business plan." Neither did Alice in Wonderland. "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. "I don't much care where," said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. As a consultant, I have people ask me "How can I increase my business?" The answer is often easier than they ...
Strategic Acquisition Strategies for Small Businesses
Growth through acquisition should not be considered an option reserved solely for large or Public Companies. Small and mid-size businesses that opt to grow by acquiring other companies, rather than growing one new customer at a time, can gain benefits in addition to increased sales and profits.
The Importance of Value Mix
( * - the word ‘product’ can be substituted to mean ‘service’ too; and vice versa ) Every consumer looks at maximizing value accrual while engaging in act of purchase of products* or services*. Marketing as a domain plays a very important role in influencing a purchase. This influence is aimed at convincing the consumer of the value inherent in the product or service they market. Post purchase evaluation is when the consumer evaluates in real terms the value that he/she derived ...
What is Your MSP?
For many consumers and producers, MSP is an acronym for Manufacturer’s Suggested Price. Today, I would like you to consider a different definition for these commonly used letters –Marketing, Sales and Profitability.
Under Construction During the Storm – A Hurricane Guide for Businesses that are Under Construction
As a business owner, you’ve likely created a hurricane plan for your business and your family, but did you overlook your construction project? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most people don’t even think about preparing their construction site because it’s not written into their "construction timeline." But when a hurricane threatens, general contractors usually get panicked phone calls asking about potential damage, delays and cost.
Advice To Manufacturers Creating A Business Plan
If you are a manufacturer wanting to use your business plan to attract investors, then your plan must do two things. It must:
Why 9 in 10 Businesses are Overspending on Day to day Expenses
Experts estimate that 90 percent of Australian businesses are overspending on day-to-day expenses, by as much as 75 percent in some cost categories!
Vision Getting Dim?
A recent conversation started with a typical question, “How’s business?” The reply was equally typical and prefaced by a sigh, “You know (another sigh), same old / same old.”
Insurance Requirements in Franchised Companies
Franchised companies often require what some believe to be excessive insurance requirements. This is because so often if a franchise is sued for any reason that the Lawyers go after the big money of the franchisors and name them in the lawsuit. It is amazing that a lawyer can write garbage in a lawsuit and file it in court and if you do not hire another lawyer to fight them, you could lose your entire life’s work and company. But our legal system as most entrepreneurs agree is a complete ...
Vendor Relations Strategies Sample Outline
One of the quintessential parts to any business is your supply chain. To insure that the supplies are there when you need them; in this new day and age of “just in time” distribution where very little sits on warehouse shelves until you order it you will need excellent vendor relations. Without the help of your vendors a small customer need turns into a astronomical problem and if you cannot solve it or serve your customer, you will indeed lose that customer to someone else who will. Someone ...
Mobile Franchise Business Expansion Strategy
If you own a mobile franchise business and wish to expand you will need to have a strategy that involves your franchisor. Additionally if you are a franchisor it is important to have some sort of policy in place in advance so that there are no hurt feelings as franchisees expand.
Getting Started with Succession Planning: Part II
Succession planning requires the owner of a small or medium-sized business to plan for what the company will look like and how it will operate after the transition to new owners is complete. Unless the owners have succession goals in mind, they won’t achieve them. Once these goals are in place, the owners should backtrack and identify the process that will get the firm from its current status to the targeted status after succession. Some of the people involved in the process of transforming ...
Action Planning
ACTION PLANNING: Action Planning is a process to develop strategies for changes in the organization based on an analysis of the problems which precipitate the need for change. It is a collaborative method of planning which involves the people working in the organization and permits the people who will be influenced by the decisions and change to have influence on the product or outcome. Action Planning assumes that people will support that which they help to plan and create. Unless those ...
Business Plans Keep You On The Success Course
Where would your business be without a proper plan? A business plan sets the direction for the future of the business. It gives the business owner or manager a sense of guidance, listing the goals and objectives of the business from the start.
Don't Just Talk About the Weather, Use It to Advantage
A well known, national chain of restaurants discovered that certain weather patterns substantially impacts their business. They have studied it and found that more people go out to eat dinner when there is a series of beautiful days. So they measure the weather quality at their stores across the country. Managers report the weather quality daily. A weather predicting system is then employed to determine the quality of subsequent days. When the model predicts a higher customer count they ...
Secrets Of Effective Brainstorming
Have you been in a "brainstorming" session where each person just defended their own ideas? Worse is when people don't suggest ideas at all, for fear they'll be attacked. That's no way to brainstorm. Brainstorming is using the power of many minds, and ideas should flow freely and trigger other ideas. How do you make that happen?
Why You Need a Business Planning System NOT a Business Plan
When someone mentions business planning we have been conditioned to think about writing a business plan. There are hundreds of books and articles, tons of software, an army of consultants, and a multitude government programs to help you write a business plan. There are virtually no resources to help you set up what today’s business environment really demands – a continuous, ongoing planning system.
Nine Succession Planning Mistakes Small Businesses Should Avoid
1. Attempt Succession Planning Without Other Strategic Plans. Succession plans define a company’s business heirs, but what will they inherit? They will inherit a company with no vision, no strategy to deal with the competition, and no plans for changing the way it does business, if the current owners spend too little time planning for the future. Every firm should have strategic plans to increase its market value.
Getting Started with Succession Planning: Part I
GETTING STARTED WITH SUCCESSION PLANNING: PART I A survey of 4,300 small business owners by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) revealed about 37% said they plan to sell their businesses upon retirement to non-family members. Twenty-six per cent said they planned to transfer or sell their business to family members, and an equal percentage had no business transfer plans yet. These numbers are significant, because in both the USA and Canada, approximately ...
Succession Planning: Problems Getting Started
A survey released by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in the spring of 2005 illustrates a widespread problem on the lack of succession planning [deciding who will take over running the firm when the current managers die or retire]. The survey found that 60% of responding certified public accountant (CPA) firms have owners who are in the 55-to-62-year-old age bracket, and more than half (56%) have at least one partner who will retire in the next five years. However, ...
Strategic Planning Fundamentals
Strategic planning is vital while starting a new business or expansion of an business or planning to boost the performance of an existing business. But it requires detailed strategic planning and controlled deployment activities. Strategic planning is used to delivers its value proposition and achieve its mission.
For Business Owners Only You Can't Be Fired But Neither Can You Quit
The decision to sell, or not to sell your business is a difficult one. There are many questions that need to be answered before an informed decision can be made. Is selling your best alternative? Will one of the kids want to take over the business? Timing is everything. Is now the right time? You do not have to sell or decide right now. You are quite busy so maybe you will look into it after. . .
In Business Planning, Competition is Good
When developing the competition section of your business plan, companies must define competition correctly, select the appropriate competitors to analyze, and explain its competitive advantages.
Seasonality: What's the Big Deal?
Do you work in or own a business that’s affected by seasonal cycles? Do you live in a community whose population changes significantly during the year (e.g., tourist influx, students returning to college)? Do you ever feel stressed out or frustrated by the seemingly constant changes or the extreme highs and lows of your life or your business?
Breaking the Growth Barriers in the Information Technology and Software Sector
There's nothing automatic about corporate growth, particularly in the information technology industry; build it and they will come is a myth. In the real world there is either a structured, process-driven growth cycle, or stagnation—and stagnation is automatic. Inherent to growth cycles are barriers, real-world business challenges that put some software companies out of business and spur others on to break through those barriers to higher levels of success. Overcoming those barriers is ...
Describing Intellectual Property in Your Business Plan
Most companies that are worthy of raising venture capital have proprietary Intellectual Property (IP). In fact, the quality of the IP and the management team are often the two most important aspects of a venture capitalist’s investment decision. The challenge that many ventures face, however, is that most investors will not sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and NDAs are critical to maintaining the proprietary nature of the IP. This article details the appropriate strategy for addressing ...
Resilience
I. INTRODUCTION The term resilience, which is of frequent use in the psychotherapy area, has recently started being used in the corporate field. In fact, this term came up in our language as a technical term, with the following meaning: “The power that certain materials –mainly metals- have of resuming its’ original form or shape after a strong level of pressure or compression". Obviously, this is not the concept that we are going to use all along the present ...
Why Create an Annual Plan?
Can you imagine going on a road trip without knowing your destination? Or, building your house without plans? The same can be said about running your business without a plan.
What is a Shared Vision?
So what makes a vision successful? Everyday companies try to create a vision that will lead them into the future but seldom does that vision ever impact the organization. The reason for this is that the vision is created by a few and never becomes a ‘shared vision’ of the entire organization.