“No one ever excused his way to success.”
– Dave Del Dotto

It’s no secret that I’m a proponent of strategic planning. If you’ve read any of my articles over the years, you know that I believe every business – especially closely held businesses – should implement a strategic plan to align the organization around key objectives and create accountability for results. When I meet with prospective clients, one of the things I ask is whether or not they have a strategic plan in place. Most do not. I’ve heard just about every excuse there is for failure to implement a strategic planning process, but here are some of the most common ones:
1. “I don’t have time.”

Managers of closely held businesses are busy people who often wear many hats. The thought of creating and implementing a strategic plan is so overwhelming that they dismiss the idea or keep postponing it until “things settle down.” In a more recent variation on this excuse, managers point out that the recession has forced them to cut staff to bare-bones levels. They couldn’t possibly ask their employees to participate in a strategic planning process when the company is already demanding so much from them.

2. “I did a strategic plan a few years ago and it was a waste of time.”

I’ve met a number of business leaders who’ve been through bad strategic planning processes and are convinced strategic planning isn’t right for their organization. In many cases, these managers took a shortcut. They found a strategic plan outline on the Internet, copied it and filled in the blanks with terminology and data for their business. They ran off a bunch of copies and handed them to their management team with a pep talk, then sat back to wait for the results.

3. “My strategic plan is all in my head. And it’s working — the business is growing.”

For many business leaders, the strongest argument against strategic planning is the fact that the business has been successful without it. The founder’s vision, advance planning and day-to-day involvement in a closely held business can drive success and growth for a while. However, as the organization continues to grow and the levels of management increase, the founder’s direct control over the day-to-day operations decreases. If the organization is no longer aligned with the founder’s vision and objectives, growth comes to a standstill. And, if the founder leaves through death, retirement or disability, what will become of the company?

4. “Until we know what’s going to happen with the economy, there’s no point in doing a strategic plan.”

Many business leaders seem to think that a solid economic forecast is a prerequisite for strategic planning. Only when they know which market segments will be up or down and where inflation is headed do they feel comfortable planning strategies for their business.

No more excuses

1. When you’re running a lean organization and your employees are maxed out, things begin to slip between the cracks. If you want to be sure your organization is focusing on the tasks that will ensure business success and growth, you’d better have a strategic plan that tells them where to apply their effort. Things will never settle down and there will never be “enough time.” Just do it.

2. There are no shortcuts to strategic planning. If you did a “fill in the blanks” strategic plan based on someone else’s plan, you haven’t done strategic planning. If you wrote a strategic plan yourself and just gave copies to your managers, you haven’t done strategic planning. Developing a strategic plan is a collaborative process in which you and your management determine strategies to achieve overall objectives, assign accountability and drive the planning process down through every level in the organization. It’s a process that engages the entire organization in maximizing productivity and growth.

3. Just because your business has grown to this point does not ensure that it will continue to grow. The point of diminishing returns will come, perhaps sooner than you think. As your organization becomes bigger, you must align your management team with your vision and objectives for the business and empower them to drive that sense of purpose to employees at all levels. Strategic planning is the only way to ensure that every employee in your business is working to achieve your strategic objectives.

4. If we’ve learned anything in the last two years, it’s that there’s no such thing as a reliable economic forecast. My corollary to that statement is this: the less certain you feel about the future, the more you need a strategic plan. A solid strategic planning process forces you and your management team to consider all the “what ifs” and develop plans for the contingencies. The process brings to bear all the best thinking in your organization and allows the business to move forward with confidence, no matter what economic or competitive challenges may come up.

So what’s your excuse? If I’ve convinced you to develop a strategic plan, check out our One Page Planning™ Process. It’s a fast and simple way to develop and implement a plan that will increase productivity and growth in your organization. If you’re still avoiding the strategic planning process for some reason I haven’t covered, we’d love to hear from you!