Prepare to drive sustainable growth with Strategic Planning
Partner with us to quickly identify your organization's goals and establish the sequence in which those goals should be realized to maximize impact.
How do you grow your company and still provide meaningful solutions to your customers, without going belly-up in this ever-changing, fast-paced, and dynamic business landscape? For organizations that are trying to go from $1M+ to $10M in revenue, this is literally The 10 Million Dollar Question. And what is it that $10M companies have, that smaller companies do not?
As a small business owner, you've likely encountered many obstacles in pursuit of sustainable $10M revenue growth. It can be quite demoralizing... you work hard, you put in the extra hours outside of the office, and yet somehow (to this point), you haven't been able to reach this milestone.
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First, let's acknowledge that this is not an easy feat. In fact, less than 1% of businesses surpass the $10M mark. Do not despair, there's a silver lining here... If your business is generating at least $1M per year, you've already beaten out 95% of all businesses in the US. That's right, $1M in annual revenue puts your company in the top 5%.
This means you're not trying to climb a long steep hill from the bottom to reach the top 1%. In reality, you're not all that far from the summit. We're talking about edging out only 4 more measly percentage points to get into the top 1% from where you are. Sound doable? That's because it is absolutely doable with Strategic Planning!
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"Vision without action is a day dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
-anonymous.
About this Service
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Our Strategic Planning services are designed to help drive sustainable growth. This means removing obstacles while providing meaningful solutions to your customers, without sacrificing quality. We want to enable you to take your small or medium-sized business to $10M, and beyond.
Using our Combined Energy Approach™, we'll guide your leadership team through quickly identifying and prioritizing the most impactful and urgent objectives within your unique organization to make your vision a reality.
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If you already have a strategic plan, great! We'll help get everyone moving in the right direction through strategic alignment.
What our In-person Strategic Planning services entail:
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SWOT Survey and Analysis
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PESTLE Analysis
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Clarified Long-term Vision Communicated to Organization
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Medium-term Strategic Plan
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Obstacles and Risk Analysis
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Objectives and Key Results
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1-Year Strategic Plan of Action
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Tactical Plan of Action for Next 90 Days
*For organizations that have already implemented Strategic Planning, we offer Facilitation services for both Quarterly and Annual meetings. Click here for more details
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FAQs
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How do you grow your company and still provide meaningful solutions to your customers, without sacrificing quality?
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Partner with Doxazo to implement Strategic Planning in your organization. Together with your leadership team, we'll quickly identify the most impactful goals and lay them out to prepare your company to drive sustainable growth. For more information on Strategic Planning, see About Strategic Planning below.
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...even if you have a busy schedule?
There's no better time to implement Strategic Planning than now. It doesn't matter if you have a full schedule or perhaps you're in the midst of your "busy season". If you think about it, you will always feel busy or have a full schedule (if your company is growing and succeeding the way you want it to). If you can conduct Strategic Planning sessions during the hectic times, it'll be all the more simple if things do calm down. It doesn't make sense to put off the implementation of this powerful solution that will so greatly help you and your stakeholders.
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...even if there doesn't seem to be any money in the budget?
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The savings and rewards of Strategic Planning will far outweigh the costs. It is estimated that employee wasted time accounts for 20-30% of payroll (low engagement and excessive meetings being the leading work-related time-wasters). When the organization becomes more efficient, even if it only gains back a fraction of that waste, this premium service for a reasonable price, will have paid for itself many times over within the first quarter.
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...even if your company is unique from all other companies?
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Strategic Planning with Doxazo is not a "one-size-fits-all" solution. We take the time to gain insight into your company's vision, objectives, and processes. We diagnose problems, collect data, and custom tailor a plan of action for each organization no matter how unique. Lastly, we'll make any required adjustments to ensure design of the deliverables, implementation, training, evaluation, and optimization meet both our standards.
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...even if you have tried in the past and were unsuccessful?
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Doxazo's Strategic Planning process includes additional training designed to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. Without a proper marriage between the two, you will not get the results you seek. For us, it's not enough to give you a plan. We want to guide you through the process of understanding, to gain confidence, become disciplined, and generate excitement so you don't lose momentum as soon as we walk out the door.
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...even if you don't think it's possible?
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If you're not already holding Strategic Planning meetings on a quarterly basis, you should start because you could be scaling your organization rapidly while reducing your business-related frustrations. If you’re choosing not to engage in Strategic Planning, it’s only a matter of time before you are left behind by your competition. If your company is stagnant or you’re dealing with a lot of operational “fires”, it’s likely due to a lack of Strategic Planning. Perhaps operational "fires" are not your problem, maybe you just feel like your company is not meeting your expectations. Either way, if you're not where you want to be (or you're not getting there fast enough), this solution will allow you to "right the ship" if you choose to act.
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...even if you think it would be better suited for down the road?
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There's no better time to implement Strategic Planning than now. It doesn't matter if you have a full schedule or perhaps you're in the midst of your "busy season". If you think about it, you will always feel busy or have a full schedule (if your company is growing and succeeding the way you want it to). If you can conduct Strategic Planning sessions during the hectic times, it'll be all the more simple when things are calmer. It doesn't make sense to put off the implementation of this powerful solution that will so greatly help you and your stakeholders.
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Why Doxazo
Like many other firms, we utilize best practices for Strategic Planning. This involves Operational Design Using Regressive Planning. The result is having a "North Star" for everyone to navigate towards. This means alignment in your company Vision, Mission, Values, Goals, and Actions. Everyone from the top-down and bottom-up will know what it means to be successful.
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With that said, not all Strategic Planning processes are created equal. While we utilize similar practices as the competition, we must emphasize that we are not all cut from the same cloth. We believe in "striking while the iron is hot". If you're interested in pulling the trigger, you shouldn't have to wait. We're committed to getting you rolling within 2 weeks of initial contact (if you so desire).
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Most firms are focused on getting you a "roadmap" for what to do this year. While that's part of what we'll do together, our true goal is to impart the knowledge and practices that will allow you conduct your own unassisted Strategic Planning sessions in the future.
We include additional training designed to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. Without a proper marriage between the two, you will not get the results you seek. At Doxazo, we care about delivering positive results. If you're not happy, we're not happy.
It doesn’t cost you anything if you don’t feel value was received. Our guarantee states: “If when the work is done, the client does not feel that the full value was received, then the client decides how much it was worth and how much to pay (if anything).” That is how confident we are that we can deliver positive results.
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About Strategic Planning
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Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF):
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If your company is stagnant or you’re dealing with a lot of operational “fires”, it’s likely due to a lack of Strategic Planning
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If you're not already holding Strategic Planning meetings on a quarterly basis, you should start because you could be scaling your organization rapidly while reducing your business-related frustrations.
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If you’re choosing not to engage in Strategic Planning, it’s only a matter of time before you are left behind by your competition.
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Not sure where to start? We can help! Contact us today to secure a spot for the upcoming quarter, we promise this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss!
In This Article
What is Strategic Planning?
Strategic Planning is meant to focus your attention on big-picture challenges and roadblocks that are keeping the company from achieving its vision. This is not to be confused with your daily or weekly "huddles" where department heads and other staff address everyday issues.
Strategic Planning is a process that helps you to decide where you want to go, how you will get there, and what resources are needed. It is a long-term planning process that helps you to achieve your goals. It’s a way of looking at how you can improve your business and make it better for everyone involved, including yourself!
It works by helping you define and prioritize your organization's goals, develop strategies to achieve those goals, and measure success. It's a systematic approach to thinking through the future of your business or nonprofit organization.
Strategic Planning involves the use of information gathered from many sources. The information is analyzed and then translated into actual plans for future action. The goal of strategic planning is not only to clarify current issues but also to anticipate what may happen in the future so that decisions can be made today which will affect tomorrow's results positively rather than negatively.
Strategic Planning is an ongoing process that helps you achieve your goals and make better decisions. It also helps you get everyone on the same page, so everyone knows what their role is and how they fit into the larger picture. When everyone has a clear idea of what needs to be done, it’s much easier for them to come together and work as a team towards a common goal.
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Why Strategic Planning is Important
Strategic Planning helps organizations make better decisions about where to focus their resources—from fundraising to marketing efforts—to achieve results in their programs and services.
Without proper strategic plans, businesses have difficulty achieving their objectives efficiently and effectively. Strategic planning gives direction by providing guidance on how best to utilize scarce resources such as time, energy, money, talent, etc within an organization so as promote growth while minimizing waste and increasing profits.
Strategic planning helps an organization make better decisions by providing it with a roadmap that guides its strategic direction. It also helps managers understand their customers and competitors better so they can compete more effectively in their industry or market segment.
Without it, problems and opportunities aren’t given adequate thought for developing solutions or communicating plans of action and expectations to employees. If your organization is teeming with operational “fires” and is constantly in a reactive state, it is likely due to a lack of Strategic Planning.
Who Needs Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is a process that everyone should use to achieve their goals. Whether you want to improve your business, personal life, relationships, or financial situation there are many ways that strategic planning can help.
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Businesses need it because they want to make more money and maintain a competitive advantage while also providing great service.
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People need it because they want more freedom in their lives, a better quality of life, and more time for things that matter most to them.
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Families need strategic planning so people have the best possible chance at happiness and fulfillment in their lives together.
Companies benefit from Strategic Planning at every level of the organization. The visionary (or CEO) is able to get clear and communicate their vision and the “why” to the rest of the team. The leadership team is able to plan tactically based on the strategy, and departments can then plan operations.
As an added bonus, because everyone is then aligned with the strategy, the team can create solid contingency plans because they have a more specific scope in which to work.
When Should You Start Strategic Planning?
Regardless of the size of your company, you can benefit from Strategic Planning. It doesn’t matter how much revenue you bring in each year or how many employees you have. Do not delay in taking the steps to align your organization with a strategic plan.
If you don’t, you’ll continue to experience these common symptoms (of a much larger problem):
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having to re-check or re-work others' work
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a lot of back-and-forth emailing
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too busy to meet deadlines
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uncharacteristic and silly mistakes
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not having the information
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operating with wrong assumptions
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lack of understanding in general
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people stressed/ under pressure
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more "reactive" than "proactive"
When it comes to getting started, there’s no time like the present. In fact, if your competition is engaging in Strategic Planning efforts and you are not, it’s only a matter of time before they leave you behind.
While your organization is spinning its wheels addressing a hundred “urgent” issues at once, your competitors will be prioritizing issues and solving them by the most impactful. They will be strengthening their culture, attracting the best talent, increasing productivity, and advancing their mission with laser focus and solid practices.
How Often Should it be Done?
Strategic planning is something that should be done periodically. You should hold at least one big-picture planning session annually, with quarterly sessions to ascertain if you’re on track to achieve your one-year targets.
It is recommended that quarterly meetings are held as close to the end of a quarter as possible. By doing so, you will have almost all the data for the period (at least enough to determine if the organization has achieved its goals for the quarter).
Rescheduling or “pushing” the dates of a Strategic Planning meeting should be viewed as unacceptable. The standard should be set that leadership doesn’t put in for vacation during those few days of the year. If someone absolutely has to miss a meeting, hold the meeting without them. Do not bump the meeting until you can guarantee 100% attendance because more often than not, the meeting ends up two-thirds of the way into the quarter.
These meetings are of the highest priority because of their importance to the company's vision and mission. There’s nothing more impactful and urgent (other than a natural disaster), so set the dates and stick to them!
How To Start Strategic Planning
If you haven’t been a part of Strategic Planning before, you can pick up a book on the subject and stumble your way through the process with your team. Many companies do it this way.
The only problem is, it takes quite a while to get good at it if you choose this route. The most efficient and effective way to implement Strategic Planning into your organization is to partner with the experts, like Doxazo. It is well worth the modest investment to avoid the headaches and learning curve of implementing an operating system in-house on your own.
That said, you should always make sure your Strategic Planning process is done with your leadership team. You don’t want to just make decisions in a vacuum without consulting the experts who work closely with their respective subject matter. This will ensure that everyone feels included and encouraged to give their input on what they would like to see happen in the future of their workplace or company.
Your leadership team should be holding "big picture" meetings every 90 days to track progress toward your company goals. If this is not the case, how do you know you are in alignment with the company vision and mission?
If you don’t have that sorted out, then the first step in strategic planning is finding out what your vision and mission are. You can do this by mapping out how your organization fits into the wider context of society.
In order to create a strong strategic plan, it is important that you have specific goals and objectives in mind. Goals and objectives will help show exactly where you want your organization to go over a period of time and serve as the measuring stick as you progress.
Goals need concrete descriptions of what needs to happen so that the results of your work can be achieved. You can use the SMART model to guide your thinking here. For example, one goal might be: "Achieve an 80% increase in client retention rates by March 2022." As another example: "Increase total revenue from $5M per year to $6M per year by June 2022."
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Where Should the Strategic Planning Exercise Take Place?
Strategic planning can take place anywhere. However, we recommend that you do it in-person rather than virtually, and in a quiet place with no distractions. In fact, it is recommended that the leadership team holds Strategic Planning meetings somewhere other than your worksite.
Holding these highly productive meetings offsite is a great way to separate your team’s focus from the day-to-day and shift to big-picture mode. Being in an alternative environment allows the brain to differentiate the goal of the session as being “special”. This is much more difficult if attempted in a familiar space like the company’s conference room.
It is important that you are comfortable and have access to the resources you need throughout the process. If possible, set the expectation with the rest of the organization that no one should interrupt or distract the leadership team while you are working on your strategic plan.
Conclusion
Strategic planning is a way of looking at what needs to be done in the future and how you can achieve those goals. It’s not just about having an idea and then going with it—you need to take into account all aspects of your business, from finances to operations to marketing. Once you know where you stand, you can start making decisions on how best to move forward.
As you can see, strategic planning is a process that requires careful thought and consideration. It's important to keep in mind the different stages of your company's growth and how your goals will affect them. In addition, it's important that you have a clear understanding of what each stage entails so that you can effectively plan for each one.
If you're interested in taking your organization to the next level, Doxazo Consulting can assist you. We'll help identify the company's long, medium, and short-term goals necessary to achieve your future vision. Further, we'll take those goals and show you how to prioritize them, break them down, and accomplish them efficiently and effectively on your own, so you aren’t reliant upon outside help in the future.
Contact us today to secure a spot for the upcoming quarter, we promise this is an opportunity you don’t want to miss!
