October 31, 2007

Execute! Implement Your Plan Successfully
Learn how to successfully implement and manage performance of your strategic planning efforts with the new execution module of MyStrategicPlan. Join us as Erica Olsen, author of Strategic Planning for Dummies and developer of MyStrategicPlan, discusses using the new dashboards for optimal results in your strategic plan execution.
DATE:
Wednesday, November 7th
TIME:
12 p.m. Eastern
11 a.m. Central
10 a.m. Mountain
  9 a.m. Pacific
COST:
Complimentary
DURATION:
45 minutes
REGISTER:
Please join us by registering here.

Business Success Doesn't Happen By Accident
Success isn’t a matter of chance but rather a matter of choice. This concept really encapsulates why it’s important to have a clear strategic direction and strategic plan. You must look into the future and create a plan for wherever it is you’re trying to go. If you aren’t intentional about the direction of your business or department, you aren’t likely to get there.

Everyone wants better results, right? Those results may be to earn more money, to use resources better, to create a more effective and efficient team, to improve your work/life balance, and so on. And strategic planning helps. The benefits to strategic planning are both intangible and show hard bottom line ROI.

As business owners, you care about what falls to the bottom line. A major reason we focus on strategic planning is because it does make a financial difference. To verify this, in 2005, we conducted a research study of strategic planning and strategy execution of 280 firms in the United States. The bulleted list below provides the results of that study and explains what you can expect to achieve as well.

Impact on sales volume:

• Of those firms whose top management had a high commitment to execute strategic planning, 80 percent reported that their sales volume increased during that year.
• Of the firms whose top management had a lower commitment (average or below) to execute strategic planning, only 59 percent reported that their sales volume had increased during the year.
• From another perspective, firms whose top management had a high commitment reported 12 percent greater increase in sales volume than did those with a lower commitment.

Impact on net income:

• Of the firms whose top management had a high commitment to execute strategic planning, 33 percent reported that their net income had increased during the year.
• Of those whose top management had a lower commitment (average or below) to execute strategic planning, only 19 percent reported that their net income had increased during the year.
• From another perspective, firms whose top management had a high commitment reported 11 percent better net income than did those with a lower commitment.

A strategic plan is the means. Growth and high-performance are the end to those means.

STRATEGY CHECK: