Terry Irwin, MD of TCii, explains his approach to taking strategic planning step-by-step.

In today's economic environment, having a solid business strategy is more crucial than ever for survival and success. Strategy is the key to ensuring that an organisation's human, physical and financial resources are always placed in the most profitable position to provide what customers want, when they want it.

Because strategy is so critical, the task of formulating one can be overwhelming. We believe the easiest approach is to break the process down into six distinct and manageable steps.

Step 1: Set Your Goals

You need an overview of what your strategy should look like. Establish your business vision, purpose, idea and objectives as your essential themes. But don't think of these elements as final. They will be constantly fine tuned and reviewed as part of the balancing or positioning process described in step 3.

Step 2: Review the Situation

This step helps you answer the simple question: where are we now? To answer this, you'll need to carry out detailed research and analysis on:

  • external factors and business intelligence
  • market statistics, dynamics and segmentation
  • strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
  • competitors
  • strategic assumptions
  • personal goals and objectives.

Step 3: Position and Balance

Now you address the question: what could the future look like? Draw up strategic statements that are strong and consistent. Cover the following areas, reflecting the relationships between each area: your business vision, purpose, idea and its value; your driving force and unique abilities; your market segmentation and competitive stance; your behaviour, style and culture; your distinct brand; and your financial rewards.

Step 4: Create the Strategy

At this point you should be able to summarise:

  • your short and long-term strategies and intentions
  • the critical success factors, including any weaknesses or gaps that must be addressed
  • the options for your business activities and resources, covering product, promotion, price and place.

Step 5: Draw up the Plan

Now it's time to draw up your action plan. For each time horizon (e.g. 12 months, two years, five years), produce a framework that's clear and accountable. The plan should include your intentions, actions, goals and deadlines.

Step 6: Always Monitor and Adjust

The final element of the strategic process is a regular review. Conduct quarterly reviews of your action plan and assess your business performance against your key performance indicators. Adjust your strategy and action plan, bringing elements forward if necessary, and adjusting the emphasis of particular aspects, depending on progress.

If you follow this six-step programme, it will help you to devise and implement a firm but flexible strategy to take your business forward.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.