Breffini | September 20, 2020 | 3 min read
How Do You Plan in the Longer Term? Don’t You Have Some Kind of Roadmap?
Business planning in the long term can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! Your long term business plan should be a roadmap of where you want to take your business and how you will get there, similar to how you would set goals in your personal life. There are plenty of ways to make break down your long term business plan to make it more realistic and effective – we’ve got some hints, tips, and strategic planning software that will help.
Building your business roadmap…
People with written goals are 50% more likely to achieve than people without goals – so imagine how effective it would be for your business? Writing down goals will help to envisage where you want your business to be, in a given time frame, and how you will achieve this. Written goals give you something to focus on and work towards, but it’s not as simple as writing a list of things you want to achieve; that’s where the winning combination of SMART methodology, and strategic business planning software come in.
What is SMART?
SMART is an acronym for aspects that should be taken into account when setting goals – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.
Be specific…
Be specific with the goal that you want to achieve and the timeframe that you wish to achieve it in. Some goals are long term, of course, and they tend to be a bit vaguer. Try to break down these bigger goals into steps on how you will reach the long term/bigger goal. Being specific means that you have a plan of action for exactly what you need to do and when to get to where you want to be. Using strategic business planning software will help you here as you’ll be able to clearly define objectives so everyone on the team is on the same page.
Keep it measurable…
For your goals to be effective, you need to be able to measure your progress. For example, using strategic planning software such as StratPlan, will allow you to measure and monitor your progress easily. This means that you can adjust your business plan accordingly, to avoid wasting time and money along the way!
Keep it attainable…
Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself! But be realistic when setting your goals. Long term goals can seem overwhelming and far away but if you break them into smaller, more attainable steps, your goals are more in reach. Setting unrealistic goals and then not reaching them can be very discouraging and can knock your confidence.
Be realistic…
Take your time, tools, and resources into consideration when putting together your plan so it is as realistic and attainable as possible. Give yourself every chance of achieving those goals. Have you ever looked at a list of goals that you failed to achieve? It’s a knock to your confidence! Using strategic business planning software like StratPlan will not only help with this but it will help to navigate industry challenges and uncertainties too. We’re not psychic so it can be difficult to anticipate external environments (like COVID-19 impacts, for example) but business planning software can make this easier.
Keep it timely…
Set deadlines for your goals and be realistic with the time that you have available to work on these goals to avoid disappointment. It can be difficult to motivate yourself if your deadline is way off in the future. Set smaller goals with individual deadlines. This will give you a clear idea of what needs to be done and when. Plus, you get to tick more things off a list and it’s way more satisfying!
Using the SMART methodology and business planning software, like StratPlan, will help you to build your long term roadmap for your business. Setting realistic objectives and using a roadmap to get there will mean that everyone in the business, on every level, is on the same page and working towards the same goals!
