Three Tips For Strategic Planning
Like many companies this time of year, we at Insta-Pro International are starting the process of planning for our next fiscal year and looking at our long-range strategic plans. Like us, you might be focused on short-term issues like supply of components, key organization changes and actions needed to hit your sales goals for this year. These regular operating pressures can take on much of the focus for the management team. It can even affect your ability to look out into the future.
However, there are times when you need to have a big-picture view of the factors impacting your business. One way to do that is to look at investments in key initiatives that can launch your business into new areas. For instance, maybe an investment is needed in people’s time and energy to learn if new products should be offered, or new markets explored. Another example would be looking at an investment in capital equipment to improve your overall productivity.
Whatever the case may be for your business, getting started with strategic planning can be difficult. Here are three tips to help you with strategic planning:
- Change Your Perspective. Don’t just stick with the same old assumptions. Challenge yourself to look at your business in a new light. Ask your network for advice. Look for new sources of market data. Ask business partners and suppliers about new ideas for improving productivity. Look into other industries for initiatives that can make an impact on your business.
- Plan Your Future. Spend time looking at what is changing in the marketplace, especially which trends are likely to continue for the next three years. If your customers are adopting new processes and practices, how will they affect your business? If new approaches to processing and feeding animals is growing, how are you positioned to take advantage of them?
- Know Your Numbers. Quantify the expected Return on Investment (ROI) for your possible large investments. This process can be difficult, and it relies on estimates and forecasts that your team need to commit to, but the hard work is invaluable. When it comes time to make the hard choices on which initiatives to pursue, these ROI numbers will guide your decisions.
As you look at ways to expand your feed processing businesses into the future, keep these three tips in mind. If there is anything the Insta-Pro International team can help you with during your planning efforts, please give us a call.
