Business and Finance

Often during the process of strategy execution, the implementers start getting early feedback that the strategy is way off the mark. This feedback comes from the front lines : from employees, customers, suppliers, associates.

Given a bad strategy, a great execution will only speed up a business failure. What the implementers need is a mandate or a license to kill bad strategy without wasting precious resources and time. However there are reasons why a bad strategy is never shot down before it is too late .

1. Implementation is done by the lowly grunts or junior level managers and there is no process through which the ‘grunts’ or ‘hands and legs’ can communicate their feedback. Even if there are means to relay feedback , the feedback does not have the necessary credibility.

Continue reading ‘The Licence to to Kill a Bad Strategy’ »

A sure-fire way to start the success of your business strategic planning process is to identify the foundation upon which your business was built. Lacking a well defined mission statement and equally communicated vision statement identifying your desired future will make the job a great deal more difficult. Rather like threading a needle and thread without tying a knot at its end, an undefined business floats its intended outcome with little to anchor its goals and strategic activities. “Your mission and vision statements should be used to help focus your business in terms of direction, leadership, and goal-setting ; mission and vision statements are the basis for your organization’s strategic planning”, said Don Midgett, author of Mission and Vision Statements: Your Path to a Successful Business Future.

“Visionary businesses excel because they set goals that relate directly to their mission and vision statements. They communicate their vision statement and vision-based goals to both customers and employees. They come up with strategic activities and daily/weekly/monthly actions to reach their goals and, over some period of time, achieve their vision. It is in this way that a business can control its own destiny, rather than let outside forces determine a business direction.” A periodic review by management of your strategic planning actions will let you know if you have chosen the right strategic activities for your business. Additionally you can also make sure that the strategic planning activities you have chosen to implement are all supportive of your mission and vision statements. Use your mission and vision statements to chart and stay the course.

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When starting an online business just like any other business, you need to have a strategic plan. Most people don’t have a plan.

You need to have a plan to make money. (a business model) and you need a plan for growth… because if you don’t have a plan for growth, then you are just creating a dead end job for yourself.

1) The number one thing you need to do is set goals for the business. Figure out where you want to be 1 year, 5 year, 10 year down the line.

How much money do you want to make? How many employees do you what to have? These are all important goals to hold in your mind.

You also need to create a goals stepping plan. Just how you can’t go from 0mph to 80mph in 1 second… you can’t jump from $0 to $1,000,000 …

In my opinion, you should have a plan to get to $1,000,000 … because if you are planning something, you might as well be planning something big.

Continue reading ‘Having a Strategic Plan for Your Internet Business’ »