What’s the best thing you can do for your business this Christmas?

If you have worked with me or have read my work you’ll know my views on the importance of thinking. Of course, I’m talking about strategic thinking; the kind of thinking that can make a difference to your business and even your life.

As we head towards the end of the year, it’s natural that we will be thinking about 2013; thinking about what we would like to achieve, what we would like to change and how we would like things to be.

The (nice-to-have) problem for most of us is that we will be enjoying our time with loved ones and surrounded by noise and distractions. This can make thinking deeply about next year and how we want to make our businesses stronger and more successful a tad difficult.

Thinking strategically is challenging at the best of times, never mind during this festive season. It’s rare that strategic ideas and thoughts will materialise immediately on demand. One way to help you get started is to plant a couple of seeds and nurture them. So, think about a couple of areas of your business and focus on those…these are your seeds.

These seeds will germinate in the background and as you doze in front of the TV or take an afternoon stroll, thoughts and ideas will begin to form. Your next challenge will be to write down or record the ideas that leap forth. (I often have these thoughts when walking my dog or driving and find a Dictaphone or my mobile a useful tool for recording my thoughts.)

What are the big two or three things you want for your business for 2013? Define them, plant the seeds and get this creative thought process started.

Once you have them, the hardest part is making them happen. Fix in your diary the days or weeks you’ll need to work on this vital exercise and don’t let the demands you’ll face when you return to work override it. This link to a post I wrote in September will help.

If you haven’t yet mapped out your business for 2013, you really need to do this during this break and not start 2013 without some kind of plan.

Meanwhile, let me just take this opportunity to wish you a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Image courtesy:Birminghampost.net

December 21, 2012 Chris Briggs 0 Comments attributes, Business Strategy, Planning, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Thinking, Think Phase creativity, goals, leadership, strategic marketing, strategic planning, strategic thinking, time management

Why there should never be a ‘Plan B’

What is Plan B anyway? Was Plan A so far off the mark that we need a whole new plan?

Even if you have two possible paths to take that lead you down two very different routes and different results, does that require two plans?

If you’re the leader of a country that’s at war and things aren’t going well for your side, you may find yourself at a junction where one path is to surrender and the other to keep fighting. These paths don’t necessarily require two plans.

The vision and overriding goal of the leader is to do the best for his or her people and country…that is one plan. The best plans will have identified the risks, and hurdles and mitigated for them. In this case, the risk that the war didn’t go this leader’s way should have been recognised and a plan of action (a sub-plan) in place should that unfortunate turn of events occur. In this case, the leader would know whether to fight on or surrender because at this juncture the strategy plan and his strategic skills should show which path is best for his people and country which is still the overriding goal of this plan.

Our government doesn’t need a ‘Plan B’ it needs to have a ‘Plan A’ that is flexible, that has the possible routes mapped out and that can adapt to the situation. Going for growth isn’t ‘Plan B’; it should be in place as a desirable option and ‘Plan A’ adapted if necessary. After all, the overriding aim of the government, hasn’t changed has it?

In your business, have one strategy plan, adapt it if necessary and make it work. Don’t scrap it and start a new one. This will undermine confidence and imply wasted effort and cost. If your vision hasn’t changed then simply adapt the plan you have and make the right course corrections.

If you need help adapting your strategy plans to keep your business on course then do contact me to see if I can help.

May 23, 2012 Chris Briggs 0 Comments Business Strategy, Risk Analysis, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning, Think Phase control, goals, leadership, risks, strategy, vision

Hit your goals…connect the dots.

In my last post I talked about the importance of connecting the dots of your strategy plan from your vision to your tactics, understanding the impact on your business of setting out to achieve your goals and the need to align the different areas of your business in order to do just that.

I used the example of entering a new market sector and converting new prospects and highlighted some of the areas involved in doing this such as sales, marketing, engineering and HR.

These are functional parts of a company and aligning goals, objectives and tactics to them is not straight forward simply because they are separate vertical sections.

To connect these dots, rather than try and align by functional departments or groups, align the goal, and work involved in achieving it, by horizontal processes.

Using the above example you may split the goal into the process of entering a new market and the process of converting a prospect. Break the processes down into logical steps and you will see how they involve a number of vertical functions.

The process, for a technology company, of entering a new market will involve market research (marketing), client profiling (sales), possibly new product features (engineering), new targeted marketing strategy, messages and collateral (marketing), possibly sales training (HR/marketing/engineering), PR (marketing), new account management (sales), relationship building (sales/directors), new contracts, pricing, services-level agreements, customers (administration), technical support (engineering) and of course a budget (finance).

That’s one process and around six separate functional sections of the company.

So you see, connecting the dots from a goal to the tactics and the tasks involved, is easier to do when broken down into steps within a process. The various functions or departments involved can then plan their role and align with each other to achieve an efficient execution of this process.

Define all the processes in your business and align the roles of the relevant functions to each. Assign someone to be in charge of the processes so that they can work with each function involved to ensure the processes are aligned and run as smoothly as possible to achieve the company goals.

January 24, 2012 Chris Briggs 2 Comments connect the dots, Control and Certainty, Deliver Phase, Plan Phase, Planning, Processes, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Think Phase control, goals, leadership, planning, strategic thinking

7 Steps to checking your business is ready for 2012

Regardless of when the fiscal year starts, many businesses see January as the start of a new year and hence a new cycle for the business.

Having said that many business owners struggle to step back from their business and plan the year ahead as they drive towards the year end. They make the decision to “do their plan” in the first week of January but find that they’re straight back into the business and the plan is either looked at when there is spare time or not at all.

But without stepping back and creating a new plan your business will meander through the next annual cycle and hopefully grow. At the best of times this is not a good idea…in this economic climate, this is simply crazy.

You cannot purposefully get to a particular point/destination/goal without a plan.

Here are 7 important checks to help you make sure you’ve covered the key areas.

1. Review and learn
How did the last 12 months go? What worked and what didn’t? Did you spend more than you anticipated? Did you lose some opportunities or customers? Did you support your customers well? Have you grown market share? Did you meet your goals? What happened that you weren’t expecting? What worked really well?

Do a thorough review of how the year went and make sure you have answers to all the many questions you should ask. This assessment will help you set some of the goals for the year ahead so that your company is stronger and more effective.

2. Work on your findings
From the assessment identify any weak and vulnerable areas and identify where you differentiated from your competitors as these are strengths that you need to exploit. Once you have these listed create plans to strengthen weak areas, exploit strengths and mitigating plans for all risks to your business.

3. Check your core purpose
Review your company’s purpose, vision and mission. From the year that’s gone are they still sound and valid? A year is a long time in business and it’s worth checking that you’re still on course to reach your long term aims and that these aims haven’t changed.

Things can change and events may occur which can impact the core of the company’s reason for being and what it is striving to achieve.

4. What to do
Create a balanced set of hierarchical goals; a set of goals that drive the business forward and make it stronger and more effective. Too often goals are simply an extension of what was achieved the previous year; revenue + x%, profit + y% and so on.
Be creative and set one or two visionary goals that will take the business to another level, 4 or 5 vital goals that will achieve the growth you need in the next 12 months, 6 or 7 important goals that will support the other goals and make sure they are achievable and some routine goals which will improve aspects of your business but which won’t have a detrimental effect on results if not achieved.

5. How to do it
Plan how you intend to achieve these goals. Work with those responsible for implementing the objectives and tactics and create a plan with measurable milestones and responsibilities. If you own your own business, with no people, do this anyway…you need to step out of your business and set targets.

6. Making it work
Make sure everyone in your company and other key stakeholders like your bank, investors and strategic partners understands and embraces the plan. Even share it with key customers assuming it demonstrates how your plan helps their business. Create a one-page summary of your strategy plan, print it onto large paper and put it where people can see it and see how their role contributes to it.

7. Staying on course
Establish a system and timetable for monitoring and reviewing progress. All companies stray off course if progress isn’t regularly monitored and reviewed. Set early milestones to check you’ve headed in the right direction during Q1.

You might get it but…

…do your customers?

Do your customers fully understand the benefit of what you offer? Do they? Really?

Have you ever been in a situation where someone is explaining something to you and you’re just not seeing it…that light bulb just isn’t going on? (If this has never happened to you, check out quantum physics.) People are stimulated through different mediums. I’m not great at understanding a concept that is aurally described to me (ask my accountant) but do pretty well if it’s written down.

You may see things clearly but others need it presented in a different way in order to join the dots and for that light bulb to burn brightly.

I’ve been looking at my messages and have been refining and testing them and have now created a new process which breaks the 4 strategic planning phases into 7 steps. The positive feedback I’ve had from those I’ve shown shows that this paints a much clearer picture of why strategic planning is vital and how to get it right. This process will become central to the help I give from now on.

When was the last time you looked at your messages and considered if there may be a better way to communicate them to customers and prospects? Have you lost opportunities or possibly not captured as much customer value as you may have done because the prospect or customer didn’t fully appreciate all you could do for them?

If you’re in Q4 of your annual cycle you should be assessing where you are now (step 1) and identifying your strengths and weaknesses before forming new ideas and goals to make your next year more successful than this one. As part of this exercise, take a long hard look at your messages and make sure your customers and prospects really do understand why they should engage with you and why their business will be better for doing so.

October 4, 2011 Chris Briggs 0 Comments Marketing strategy, Sales messages, Strategic Planning, Think Phase communication, leadership, strategic thinking

Try something new

Yesterday I did something new in my business…I created a video. Now this may not sound particularly exciting but, from a personal perspective, when you do something you’ve not done before, and it goes well, the feeling is tremendous.

It’s like when you were a kid and you rode your bike for the first time without stabilsers, or your first kiss or passing your driving test or your first trip on a plane. These things are done every day by thousands but it doesn’t take away the buzz you feel when it happens to you.

I can’t say that this gave me the same buzz as riding my bike or my first kiss, but it still left me with a smile on my face for the rest of the day and a feeling that I’ve achieved something that I was very uncomfortable with. I feel far more confident and will now do more and get better at them….watch this space. (And thank you to Dexter Moscow, who, apart from having the best name ever, gave me invaluable guidance.)

When was the last time you and your team did something different in your business? If you use the same tactics and initiatives for finding prospects, engaging with customers and marketing your products and services then why not get together or take yourself away be creative and come up with something new.

Don’t change your strategy plan without a good reason but there is more than one way to achieve an objective, so get creative. Do something a bit different, try it, test it and, who knows, it might return better results than your old method.

Have you done something different recently? Share them and inspire others.

Image:tomleininger.net

August 17, 2011 Chris Briggs 0 Comments Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning, Think Phase change, leadership, strategy execution

Hope is no longer an option in these unchartered waters

Last week over $1 trillion was wiped of the world’s stock markets and as of writing this, they continue to fall. The USA’s credit rating was reduced by one agency and the possibility looms that it may be reduced further. The politicians in the Euro zone are papering over cracks that continue to spread and grow. There are renewed talks of a double-dip recession and all the makings of a “perfect storm”. There is nothing to indicate that things are going to get better any time soon but every indication that things could easily get much worse.

With the prediction that unemployment in the public sector will rise it is the private sector that politicians are looking to for growth. With the bank’s profit results looking grim there is little chance that they will be lending anytime soon and help the private sector invest for growth.

Business-as-usual makes no sense in these unchartered waters that we find ourselves in. And make no mistake, these are unchartered waters. No-one really knows how this is going to turn out and there are no historical events quite like what we face today to learn from.

As business owners and leaders, we are “navigating” through these treacherous waters on our own. We cannot hope that we will get through this; instead we must do everything we can to make sure that we get through this.

What you need to do right now is step away, thoroughly assess your business and strengthen as many areas of it as you can. (I understand that for very small businesses this can be difficult but you must find the time to do this and seek help if you need to.)

Carry out a thorough assessment of your company, markets and risks. Think about how you can make sure your business not only survives but comes out stronger.

Here are 7 things to consider to get you going:

Your company – Are you on course to hit your goals? Are there weaknesses in your company that you really must address before they hurt your business? Are there strengths that you can exploit further? Are your processes aligned and working effectively? Do you have the best business models which help you capture as much customer value as possible? An annual self-assessment is a vital part of setting the right goals and plans. Regardless of where you are in your fiscal year, in these extraordinary times, don’t wait, do one now.
People – your people are your best assets…look after them. Make sure they’re motivated and achieving their targets. If they’re not then take responsibility for that, find out what’s wrong and help them. You don’t want to lose them and so make sure they have the training, tools, direction and support they need to return the business you need.
Do they know and embrace your vision and do you empower and involve them when deciding how to implement your plan? Make sure they know how they contribute to the success of the company and how much you value them.
Relationships – Your relationships are crucial, are you looking after them as much as you could be? What would be the effect on your business if they closed? Are you delivering what your customers need? Could you be doing more? Are they struggling in any areas where you could help or introduce another organisation who could help? Aim beyond demand creation. What of your other stakeholders? If you will struggle without them then speak to them, check to see how they’re doing and what help you might be able to give each other. Form stronger strategic partnerships that will help you both survive and grow.
Your markets – Are you delivering what the key players in your target markets need now and are likely to need in the future? Are you aware of what your competitors are offering? You may not need to deliver something better but you need to know if what they offer meets customer needs better than your solutions.Technology advances at an ever faster pace. Are you abreast of these changes? Can you exploit them? There are a number of external influences that can impact your market segments. Don’t be caught out by them; prepare for them and use them to your advantage if you can.
Strategy – If you don’t have strategic planning system for setting and implementing the goals that will strengthen your company and steer it towards your vision then establish one. If you don’t have a strategy plan that details these goals and the objectives and means for achieving them then develop one. If you do have such a plan and the supporting processes then check they’re working and adapt if necessary.
This strategy plan isn’t your business plan but lies at the heart of it. It isn’t your marketing strategy but includes it. This is the plan of the goals you have set and how you aim to achieve them. You cannot stay in control and keep your business on course without one.
Leadership – Lead from the front, inspire, listen, make sure your people and partners know your vision and embrace it. Show drive and determination, show the confidence you have in your people, products and services to win and grow. Know your weaknesses and address them either yourself or with others.
Focus. Know what you need to do and keep on course, don’t be deflected. Guide your people, listen to their concerns and help them. Empower them to be leaders in their own area of responsibility.
Think – If you don’t allocate time for you and your people to think about your company, about your customers and about your markets you will simply keep doing the same thing year-in, year-out and at best survive. Especially in this current economic climate, that’s not good enough. Creative thinking is needed now more than ever. Whether it’s your products and services that your customers and prospects need, your business models to capture more value effectively, your marketing strategies to attract more opportunities, the deals you make, the relationships you build, the targets you set or any number of aspects of your business you should look at, take time to think.Creative thinking is often seen as a luxury which is sacrificed in favour of managing day-to-day pressures. It is NOT. It is vital to the success of a business and, like now, to its survival.

If things do turn around, if those parts of the economy which are growing continue to do so, if the Euro zone is sorted out and no more countries go bankrupt, if countries start to reduce their debts, if banks start lending, if… then carrying out these 7 things and more will still help make your company stronger which is no bad thing and no waste of time.

Start this today; arrange a time for yourself or with your people and begin this process.

Hope is the positive face of uncertainty. Do not hope that things will turn out fine for you and your business. Make sure it does.

If you need help then contact me…it costs nothing to talk.

If you don’t need help that’s great but if you do then get it and do what you can to protect your business against all this uncertainty.

What advice can you give to help others strengthen their business and eliminate uncertainty? Please share.

Image:stockmarketview.com

If you value your business No.1- walk away

How often do you “walk away” from your business? Do you ever?

Do you give yourself some time to think about it from a distance, to look at it from afar so you can see it in its entirety?

It’s not always an easy thing to do when you’re busy spinning plates and reacting to the demands of your customers, people, investors and partners. But it is essential. You really are doing your business, your people and yourself no favours if you stay close all of the time.

As a leader you need to lead from the front and inspire your people to follow and your partners and customers to trust in your judgement. You must steer your ship to keep it on course and be aware of potential hazards along the way. And you need to innovate to stay ahead. You can only do this if you step back and take “time out” from the business. When I say “time out” I’m not talking about your holiday and about re-charging your batteries, vital though that is, but whilst you’re still working.

You can’t simply turn on your creative juices like a tap or be inspiring on demand. For me, creative juices tend to start flowing when I’m driving, walking the dog or down the gym. These juices are distinctly absent when I’m at my desk or in front of a whiteboard.

Recognise those moments when you seem to have ideas and try to use them for thinking. Again, you can’t “think” on demand and it may not always work, but thinking about your business is vital and so put yourself in the best situation for this to occur. If you don’t, how can you possibly innovate? If you want your people to come up with good ideas (and you should) then encourage them to think.

If you want your “brainstorming” meetings to be just that, don’t simply set the meeting and expect your people to be creative on demand. Give them the subjects you want to discuss a couple of weeks in advance and send out a couple of periodic reminders to help keep the creative juices flowing. If possible, aim to have two meetings with a few days in between. The first meeting will hopefully highlight some great ideas, which should then float around in yours and their heads, for the second one to build on. Great ideas may then become brilliant ideas.

This is particularly important when you’re in the fourth quarter of your fiscal year when you should start the Think phase of your stategic planning cycle and set the goals and objectives for the following year.

Really, do your business and yourself a favour and walk away.

When do your creative juices start flowing? Let me know it’d be interesting to hear.

Image:closedfast.com

July 29, 2011 Chris Briggs 10 Comments Control and Certainty, Strategic Leadership, Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Think Phase certainty, communication, creativity, goals, strategic thinking, time management, vision