Turning Intentions into Results

5 Ways to Keep Your Plan from Gathering Dust

By Peter Christian • Published October 2010

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#2: Mind Your Financial Cents

Strategic Planning is inherently linked to time and money. Time isn’t free or infinitely abundant. Once you use it, you can’t get it back. Your team’s involvement represents an investment, so it’s critical that your key people are focused on the most important initiatives.

Then there are also the expenses involved with implementing the Plan itself. These expenses could include software upgrades, new equipment, training, new marketing programs, etc. The financial arm of the Strategic Plan is often underestimated or overlooked altogether, which can doom the Plan for failure. Accurately budgeting to support your Strategic Plan is critical to implementing it effectively.

60% of organizations don’t link strategy to budgeting

The other side of the financial coin is your expectations for the Return on Investment (ROI) of the Plan. For instance, is your financial goal to increase gross sales or gross margin? Is the target 5% or 20%? Is the time frame over 6 months or over 3 years? Your answers to these questions will directly impact your priorities and the actions needed to meet your financial goals.

Strategic Success Tip #2: In addition to the appropriate amount of time and money, implementation requires patience. Yes, patience. Or shall we call it the willingness to give the Plan time to work. Unrealistic timeframes will derail even the best of Strategic Plans. Build into the Plan an attainable ROI that allows you to see tangible results in phases and keep the process on track.

Recap...

Recognize your team’s involvement as an investment
Have clear expectation of ROI
Budget to adequately fund your Strategic Plan
Give the Plan time to generate results

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