Whether you’re a brand new business, or prepping for annual planning, it’s never the wrong time to think about the best business strategy for your company. One of the lessons many organizations realized this year is that anything can happen, whether you have a solid plan in place or not. Creating a business plan is one of the best tools to be prepared for the unexpected.
1. Start with a vision
The whole purpose of having a strategy in the first place is so you can achieve your long-term goals. The best place to start is to create a vision statement and keep it in your Business Plan™ in Bloom Growth. This allows each department to easily access your company’s vision anytime they’re in the software, even during weekly meetings.
While coming up with your vision statement, think about:
- What you want your company to look like one, three, and ten years from now.
- What is your one-year plan? What is your three-year picture? What is your ten-year target?
Your strategy will fall into place more naturally once you identify your long-term vision right off the bat and have something specific to aim for.
2. Find people who align with your vision
Whether starting a new entrepreneurial adventure from scratch or looking to optimize your bench at your current organization, this is where you want to take a look at whether or not you have put the right people in the right seats. Take this opportunity to use the Org Chart in Bloom Growth to organize your data. You can create your own space to share feedback and create a cohesive team when you analyze your team members by asking:
- Do they Get it?
- Do they Want it?
- Do they have the Capacity to do it?
Auditing the way your team is structured is a great way to understand how each person individually contributes to the company vision. If you need additional help identifying where everyone will thrive, we recommend providing professional assessments for your team.
3. Identify key data points
This is how you track your company’s progress. If your goal is to reach a certain amount of revenue, make sure you have a solid accounting system. If you want your company’s message to reach a certain number of people, you could focus on traffic to your website and how many people sign up for your email list. Key metrics are unique from one company to the next, so really take the time to piece together what makes sense for your business.
Once you know what your key metrics are, you can track them using our Metrics in Bloom Growth. Leave the number-crunching to us with data tracking and at-a-glance weekly metrics right in the software.
4. Create a process unique to your business
One of the cool things about using our software is that it can be tailored to your company’s unique goals. What works for one company will not necessarily work for you. While you’re deciding on the system that works best for your team, consider:
- Each team member’s role
- Meeting structure & cadence
- Where partners fit into the mix
Keep in mind nothing is set in stone! As goals are reached and your company grows, there will likely be plenty of opportunity for you to update your core processes. Revisit the way you do things each time you reassess where you are with your goals to make sure they’re still working for you.
5. Hold each other accountable
A company only runs as well as the team works together. Holding your team members (and yourself!) accountable is important when you’re all working together toward a common goal. Having a business strategy is great, but it’s only good if people stick to it! One of the best ways to stay on the same page is to keep the internal communication open. When you all know each other’s roles in the strategy, you’ll be able to keep each other on track and keep moving forward.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our meeting features work, sign up for our 30-day free trial to give them a try!