This year has been tough—COVID-19 and the lockdowns have caused major losses for businesses in terms of finances, staff, and even strategies. A lot of businesses weren’t able to carry out what they needed to in order to succeed as well as they planned to with the unprecedented arrival of the pandemic.

In fact, about 54% of businesses reported that COVID-19 had affected them “a great deal” and 80% of hospitality and accommodation businesses reported a colossal 80% impact. Several industries suffered from COVID-19 and continue to struggle to get back on their feet.

As the financial year ends, it’s crucial to review strategies, bulk them up with back-up plans in case of any other disastrous events, and find ways to get back on track and grow again. This coming financial year brings with it the need to be more tactical in order to supercharge growth.

Why is strategic planning important?

While strategic planning has been especially important during COVID-19 because of how suddenly it turned everything on its head, it’s been a necessity even before and after the pandemic. Having a strategy is key to your business as it gives you a plan to follow and execute.

Strategic planning isn’t a one-time meeting where you talk about how you intend to carry things out. It’s an ongoing process that directors and equity partners need to focus on. Plenty of businesses fail to successfully map out their strategies and end up not meeting their goals and objectives.

It also aligns with your business’ vision. A strategy helps you organise and make better decisions in order to meet that vision as it’s the foundation of your entire company. Without it, you end up directionless and unsure of how and why you’re running your business.

Planning ahead gives you a competitive edge, as well, because you’re able to prepare and adapt to any of your competitors’ moves, marketing campaigns, and new products or services. By having plans in place and revising them, you’ll become the preferred brand.

Business doesn’t come without risk but a strategy can mitigate them as much as possible. Just like the pandemic, anything could happen, so having a plan B can make the difference between success and failure.

Who should be involved in planning?

A big question when it comes to strategic planning is who should be involved in mapping out these strategies.

As a general rule of thumb, small businesses (with fewer than 40 employees) should usually include everyone because they all have a specialised role while bigger businesses (with more than 40 employees) should rely on directors, equity partners, managers and/or management team who are essential to the business to make decisions.

It can be a complex question to answer because different people can be involved in different ways.

7 tips to supercharge your growth

Growing this financial year is everyone’s goal and with strategic planning, these seven tips will ensure you achieve it.

1. Drive culture

A good company work culture will make sure that everyone’s values are aligned while working towards the same goals and performing optimally. Because everyone is happy and understands what’s expected of them, they can be more productive and make better decisions.

When you have strongly-defined company values, you ensure that everyone on the team sticks to them and creates a collaborative environment that allows them to vocalise whether or not they resonate with your values and vision. By asking your employees to be honest with you about what they want to change, you can figure out how to make the business a better place for them where they can grow and thrive.

Do the same the other way around and find ways to gently but firmly give them feedback so they become more efficient workers and understand how they can better themselves.

2. Invest heavily into upskilling your team

You can make plenty of investments as a business leader but the best one is investing in upskilling your team, especially in the current environment where sourcing great talent is difficult. By putting your time and energy into your staff, you create a well-oiled machine that increases capacity and capability resulting in reducing bottlenecks at partner, director or manager level.

A lot of issues come from not upskilling your staff in both hard and soft skills because they will feel stuck in their current role. By working closely with your staff, you’re able to update them and help them adapt to changes. A supportive system that invests in their staff will only benefit you in the long run.

Setting aside outdated skills and developing new ones will help your company grow.

3. Develop strategic partnerships

Other businesses will likely have products or services that either complement or overlap with yours. By identifying them, reaching out to them, and partnering with them, you expose your business to a wider audience and grow further.

Joint ventures and agreements can be mutually beneficial so long as both of you put in the work. Both businesses should gain something from the partnership.

These kinds of partnerships create more opportunities and generate more leads. There are plenty of ways to go about it but by establishing ties within your industry, partnering with big businesses, and even expanding outside of your comfort zone, you can make sure your business grows.

4. Product or service development and extension

People’s needs and mindsets change easily and they will want different things. By developing new products and services or extending existing ones, you cater to these new interests and wants.

Asking your client base directly what they want or how you can help them makes all the difference. It humanises your business, shows that you’re invested in what they want, and improves their customer experience. By adding value to your client base, they’ll become more loyal to you and repurchase your product or service.

A client base that is appreciated is a happier client base. By phasing out irrelevant products or services, you can strategically find ways to develop newer ones or better versions that attract a bigger audience.

5. Make sure your market positioning is well defined

Marketing can be a big deal for businesses because it’s how a business represents itself to the public. It’s not just the look or feel, but what you’re trying to communicate. Streamlining and making sure that the voice of your brand is cohesive will attract more attention.

This goes from sales engagement to delivery. Audiences love consistency and tend to trust a brand that is coherent. It’s how you develop a strong and positive brand association that sticks in your customer’s mind. Check out my video below if you want to learn more about market positioning. 

6. Invest in technology

New technology can streamline production and quicken your processes, improving client service and overall client experience and efficiency. It also helps you stay competitive as other companies may be working with outdated technology, helping you edge them out.

Improving processes via technology but it doesn’t stop there. The digital landscape is evolving at an exponential rate and people are exposed to more and more products and services through social media. By adapting to this, you take advantage of it and expose your brand to a bigger audience. 

7. Get a business advisor or coach 

By having someone who’s had actual skin in the game and understands how business works, you can use their experience to jumpstart growth. Strategy works better when you have someone there who’s had experience to guide you. They’re seasoned veterans who will view your business with fresh eyes and see your blind spots.

Business advisors also point you in the right direction because they know what’s worked before and what hasn’t. They can supply a director or partner with sound advice on how to handle their business. 

Strategic planning is crucial for any business leader because it paves the way for reaching goals. Without a plan in place, the business will operate haphazardly and not be effective in hitting their targets. A smart director or partner needs to strategise if they want to supercharge their business growth. 
If you have questions or want some guidance in supercharging your business growth, give us a call.