Pernille – January 28th – 2021
It all began with an idea!
How many of you have created a strategy and follow it? Come on, give me a show of hands!
I am sure that if you are a large company you have one, but does your employees know it and know how to execute it?
If you are a small company, you might be like most. Your business started with an idea or a passion. You have worked hard and gained momentum. You are super busy, so busy that you at times feel stressed and do not even live up to your own standards.
You run and run and try to keep up, but by the end of the day you are still feeling behind and like you have not accomplished anything. You are not living the life you dreamed of.
… and now the dream, is more like a nightmare. You have no room for fun nor passion. You are in the hamster wheel.
Now is the time to stop, think and strategize! What gets measured gets managed!
Why did you end up here?
Maybe when you first started you did not really feel the need for a strategy. And now you work harder than ever, but sales have stagnated, customers have stopped coming and you do not know where to go next. (it might be due to Covid-19 or something else). You do not know what the next quarter will look like let alone the next 3 years! And you have not got a plan for it.
If this is you, I will give you simple tips to build your strategy. Build your foundation, your GPS. It might not be perfect at first, but at least you will have something that you can build a system on. And a system will help you see what is working and what is not. What to do more of and which “darlings to kill”.
Now stop messing about and get down to business!
1) Start with your Vision:
Ask yourself, what is it that I bring to the world?
What is the secret ingredient of your business? There will be a lot of others doing the same type of business as you. But what makes you unique?
Write a sentence, that make sense for you and feels right both in your heart and your belly.
Ensure that it is ownable, truly yours, it should not fit on every product/service/company that are like yours, it needs to bring what is in your heart and mind to life.
When you have your vision, it focusses your mind and with that you can start building your plan.
2) Move on to your Mission:
What is it that you do?
Who are you doing it for?
Why are you doing it?
Are you premium, middle, or low priced?
Is quality and/or service part of what you deliver.
Create a sentence, that bring it all to life. Write, rewrite, and make changes until you can really feel it, and also in your minds eye see how it can happen.
A lot of people get confused on Vision and Mission. In short, your Vision is your WHY and your Mission is your WHAT & HOW.
3) What are your objectives?
Economic (profit) Human (employees and customers) Innovations (what should be added/removed) Social (how should your business act in the world).
Be bold when you set your targets. Once they are there, it will be your Northern star and bold targets makes you achieve more. You are capable of so more than you think.
Remember they must be realistic. You and your team need to believe that the objectives are reachable.
4) And your strategies:
What will make your business successful over time?
Look at your numbers from previous years. How can you improve.
How will you recruit new customers?
On which platforms will you operate?
How will you position your company/product?
Who is your ideal customer?
What is your tone of voice?
5) Now write your plan:
It is time to put it all together into your plan. Split your objectives and your KPI’s into quarters and years. Even months.
Create a plan that everybody understands and ensure that everybody know what to do to make it happen.
Measure your progress and make adaptations as needed.