Why SMEs Need Strategic Plans | LAYC 92

Speaker: 00:00:07

Welcome to the Lift As You Climb podcast, where it's all about the

Speaker: 00:00:11

journey and the joy of discovering who you are now, deciding who you want

Speaker: 00:00:16

to become, and embracing your genuine identity, influence, and impact.

Speaker: 00:00:22

In each episode, we'll explore how life's experiences have prepared us for what

Speaker: 00:00:28

we choose to do next and how to create our Encore, write our own script, and

Speaker: 00:00:33

star in the next stage of our lives.

Speaker: 00:00:36

I'm your host, your Encore strategist, and transformation catalyst, Isabel Alexander.

Isabel: 00:00:57

Hi, Isabel Alexander here.

Isabel: 00:01:00

I'm on my way shortly to visit a customer's site and spend the

Isabel: 00:01:06

day with them working on their strategic plan for the new year.

Isabel: 00:01:12

Most of the time I'm working with clients over Zoom or some other virtual platform.

Isabel: 00:01:18

But this case, I have the opportunity to be in person and I'm really glad

Isabel: 00:01:23

because this is a deep dive day.

Isabel: 00:01:25

We're going to do a lot of work talking about where they've

Isabel: 00:01:30

been and where they want to go.

Isabel: 00:01:32

And although this company's been in business almost 10 years, this will

Isabel: 00:01:36

be their first official strategic plan and I'm delighted that they

Isabel: 00:01:42

made the commitment to work on that with me, because as the old

Isabel: 00:01:47

adage says, if you don't know where you're going, you won't get there.

Isabel: 00:01:54

Now, opinions vary widely about the revenue size of a

Isabel: 00:01:59

small to medium sized business.

Isabel: 00:02:02

And I mean widely if you look on the internet!

Isabel: 00:02:06

But I'm talking myself about the clients that I'm working with that are

Isabel: 00:02:10

somewhere over five million and somewhere under a hundred million typically.

Isabel: 00:02:15

I'm also thrilled to be working with a lot of clients that are cusping

Isabel: 00:02:20

at the million or just under and I can help get them over quickly.

Isabel: 00:02:25

Having a strategic plan is an extremely important part of that process.

Isabel: 00:02:32

And why don't most small businesses have a strategic plan?

Isabel: 00:02:38

Having been in those shoes myself a long time ago when I started my company, I

Isabel: 00:02:45

didn't even know what it was at the time.

Isabel: 00:02:48

I didn't know what I didn't know until I got some executive coaching and

Isabel: 00:02:53

learned about the purpose and the value and the it was important for me to

Isabel: 00:02:58

have a strategic plan for my company.

Isabel: 00:03:01

I also think I was intimidated when I did find out about it, when I heard

Isabel: 00:03:06

other companies talking about their strategic plan, companies that were

Isabel: 00:03:10

a little bigger than me, a little farther up the success ladder.

Isabel: 00:03:14

I thought, Oh My God, I don't know enough about that.

Isabel: 00:03:17

I don't know how to create that.

Isabel: 00:03:19

I'm intimidated, period.

Isabel: 00:03:22

But also I have so much on my plate.

Isabel: 00:03:26

How can I possibly make time for something like that?

Isabel: 00:03:32

That seems like an extra big stretch for me.

Isabel: 00:03:36

And I certainly don't have enough resources in the company to delegate it.

Isabel: 00:03:42

In fact, it's probably not something I can delegate because I'm the owner of

Isabel: 00:03:47

the company, I'm the chief visionary, the chief executive of the organization, so

Isabel: 00:03:54

I've got to be hands on, shirt sleeves rolled up deep in the planning process.

Isabel: 00:04:02

I think I also sort repelled by the thought of creating a plan because I

Isabel: 00:04:07

thought, Oh my God, it's going to be like creating an annual budget and,

Isabel: 00:04:10

Oh man, what a shit show that was something I certainly did not enjoy.

Isabel: 00:04:17

But then I came to understand and I came to value having a budget and having

Isabel: 00:04:23

a strategic plan because I definitely knew where I wanted to go and I could

Isabel: 00:04:32

measure my progress along the way.

Isabel: 00:04:35

If you've heard the term KPIs, Key Performance Indicators, I mean

Isabel: 00:04:41

that's just one of the steps within a strategic plan and it doesn't have to

Isabel: 00:04:46

be a complex, um, document, it doesn't need you to require a team of lawyers

Isabel: 00:04:52

and accountants and consultants.

Isabel: 00:04:55

It can be a very simple one page summary of your ideals, where you

Isabel: 00:05:02

want to go, incorporating at least the process that I use that has worked so

Isabel: 00:05:07

well for me for 30 years, incorporates my vision, my dream, my values, my

Isabel: 00:05:16

priorities, my investments along the way.

Isabel: 00:05:21

And, it plans for a lot of celebration, because as an entrepreneur, it's all

Isabel: 00:05:29

grit and grind most of the time, but if we don't plan to look at how far we

Isabel: 00:05:37

have gone, how much progress that we have made, and celebrate With ourselves,

Isabel: 00:05:44

with our team, with our suppliers, whoever the other stakeholders are, then,

Isabel: 00:05:52

really, how do you keep going when it's challenging, when times are difficult?

Isabel: 00:05:57

You must celebrate the achievements, the milestones, the accomplishments along the

Isabel: 00:06:03

way and you can decide what those are, and make them absolutely specific to your

Isabel: 00:06:11

business and your personality and the priorities within your lifestyle plan.

Isabel: 00:06:21

Because let's remember, we are the lifeblood.

Isabel: 00:06:26

We're generally the Chief Executive Officer.

Isabel: 00:06:30

We are usually the chief cook and bottle washer as well.

Isabel: 00:06:34

If you're thinking about your business and, what you wish it could be, or

Isabel: 00:06:39

you hoped it had become, or you're at that stage, as many that I talk

Isabel: 00:06:45

to now, who've got 5, 10, 20 years under your belt, and you're not

Isabel: 00:06:51

quite sure what to do with it now.

Isabel: 00:06:54

It's not thrilling you the way you'd hoped it would be at this time.

Isabel: 00:06:59

Maybe you're still reeling and recovering from the impact of pandemics and economic

Isabel: 00:07:06

upheavals and the great exodus of staff who have decided they don't want to

Isabel: 00:07:12

work this much anymore or they want to do something different, find their

Isabel: 00:07:17

own purpose and passion in their life.

Isabel: 00:07:19

Don't be the duck paddling your feet frantically under the water.

Isabel: 00:07:22

Let's have you be like the swan for a while and float smoothly because you have

Isabel: 00:07:27

a plan and you have some goals to get to.

Isabel: 00:07:30

You can see the shore over there and you can see the shore behind you.

Isabel: 00:07:35

Reflecting in my thoughts right now at this moment, Dan Sullivan and Dr.

Isabel: 00:07:39

Benjamin Hardy's absolutely fabulous book, "The Gap and the Gain", a

Isabel: 00:07:45

must read for all entrepreneurs.

Isabel: 00:07:49

Having a strategic plan also is a very vital tool for deciding

Isabel: 00:07:58

how you want to grow, if you want to, how you're going to scale.

Isabel: 00:08:02

It's an essential tool if you want to get your business ready for sale, because

Isabel: 00:08:09

perspective buyers, potential buyers will want to see that you've got the

Isabel: 00:08:15

processes in place of a real business.

Isabel: 00:08:20

I really do hate those air quotes, but just to say, "It's not a hobby.

Isabel: 00:08:26

It is a business.

Isabel: 00:08:27

It's got a plan."

Isabel: 00:08:28

and you know where you want to go.

Isabel: 00:08:32

A very long time ago, when I was an ingenue entrepreneur, I read a quote.

Isabel: 00:08:40

that sums up what I'm talking about right now.

Isabel: 00:08:44

He said, and I'm paraphrasing, "that if you can vision the

Isabel: 00:08:50

kind of company you want to be.

Isabel: 00:08:55

and then you can insert in there the kind of person you want to become,

Isabel: 00:09:00

then start acting like that right now."

Isabel: 00:09:06

That really did make me sit up and pay attention to the fact that, yeah, I'm

Isabel: 00:09:12

not just scrambling to make a living or to provide an income for other people.

Isabel: 00:09:21

I'm building my own empire.

Isabel: 00:09:25

And as head of that empire, there are some things that I should be doing so that I am

Isabel: 00:09:32

successful and really enjoy that the most.

Isabel: 00:09:36

So.

Isabel: 00:09:36

If strategic planning is something that you're intimidated by, or you're just

Isabel: 00:09:44

like, "Yuck, tried that, did not like it!"

Isabel: 00:09:48

Reach out, because I can share with you some really good processes that

Isabel: 00:09:55

are proven to work and are absolutely in line with the size of your business

Isabel: 00:10:02

and the vision that you have for future you and future your enterprise.

Isabel: 00:10:12

Thank you for spending this time with me and I hope that it was valuable for you

Isabel: 00:10:20

Thank you for spending this time with me.

Isabel: 00:10:22

I hope our conversation added value to your day and expanded your

Isabel: 00:10:27

vision for your legacy and impact.

Isabel: 00:10:30

Please join me in increasing my impact and expanding my reach to even more

Isabel: 00:10:35

people by sharing this episode on social media, with friends, and leaving

Isabel: 00:10:40

a review on Apple iTunes, Spotify.

Isabel: 00:10:44

Or channel of choice to catch all the latest from me.

Isabel: 00:10:48

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

Isabel: 00:10:51

Connect with me and others in our community Facebook group, the Lift

Isabel: 00:10:56

As You Climb Movement, where you can engage, be inspired by and grow

Isabel: 00:11:01

with a tribe of like-minded people.

Isabel: 00:11:04

As I evolve as a podcaster and spokeswoman for collaboration and

Isabel: 00:11:09

economic empowerment, your input and feedback are especially important.

Isabel: 00:11:14

To me, I welcome your suggestions and questions to hello@theencorecatalyst.com.

Isabel: 00:11:23

Until we meet again, please remember your success may be the foundation

Isabel: 00:11:29

for someone else's to together we can raise success ladders around the world.