While supply chains are snarled around the world, possibly placing your perfect presents in peril, there’s something useful your company and its team can start doing today. It doesn’t require wrapping paper, bows, gift bags, or stockings.
What is it? It’s a strategic plan for your business.
The company you run or manage already has a business plan, right? If so, that’s great. What your business might not have, though, is a one-year strategic plan. As long as your company has a three-year, five-year, or 10-year plan, it also needs a one-year plan. Without incremental benchmarks, longer plans simply do not work.
Put These Items in the One-Year Plan
Just as your company is unique, its strategic plans will also be unique. A few things that executives commonly include in one-year plans are:
- Product or service launches. If your firm wants to roll out a new product or service in 2022, the team should begin gathering momentum as soon as possible. Depending on the stage of your company’s new offering, your team should consider the associated research and development costs.
Before the rollout, your team should secure all necessary contracts, licenses, and other legal documents. Start preparing for the rollout as soon as possible, as the company is bound to hit logistical snags that nobody ever saw coming.
- New brick-and-mortar location(s). Expanding into new territory is exciting. Your company’s team might have been pondering this expansion for a while. Even if the location has already been selected, though, it’s best to take action on this plan component sooner rather than later.
It might take longer than anticipated to find a real estate broker, and your business simply may not have enough money for the down payment. Will the company receive sufficient tenant improvement allowance from the landlord? Does the firm need to sell its current space? These are important questions that need answers before you and your team can clear the way for expansion or relocation.
- New hiring. Now that your company has identified its one-year goals (in relation to longer-term objectives), ponder whether or not the company has the right personnel to execute the necessary actions. It’s quite possible your workforce will need to get bigger.
If the three-year, five-year, or 10-year plan is to sell your company, start today by looking for an accountant. As your workforce grows, pay attention to the roster. Your company will need to start abiding by certain labor laws and regulations upon meeting certain thresholds. The FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) generally applies to employers with annual sales of more than $500,000. The FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) applies to companies with at least 50 employees. Keeping up with these and other HR issues can be overwhelming—contract with an outside HR firm to keep things moving.
The Strategic Plan Starts with The 5 Pillars
If you start developing your company’s one-year strategic plan today, you’ll be giving your company the best present it could possibly receive. Nothing happens by accident, though. To get your business where you want it to go, the company first needs to implement The 5 Pillars of Sound Business. Sage Business Counsel can help make that happen.
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