Now that you’ve created your growth priorities, it is time to choose the most important ones (typically 1-3, any more than three and you may have difficulty implementing it) and it’s time to create a detailed action plan. This is my favorite part, because you get to design an action plan that taps into our strengths, your passions, and your resources.
This is your how, HOW will you make your growth priority happen.
For example, one of my growth priorities for 2024 is to build an area of our business where we are supplying our clients with a virtual producer for their virtual training sessions. This enables their instructors to teach while we handle the technology platform, i.e. Zoom, Teams, WebEx, etc.,
Here is my Growth Priority as written in our formula: From X to Y by Z.
- Increase the number of consistent clients from 0 to 5 for whom we do their virtual technical producing for their virtual training courses by December 31, 2024.
As you plan your strategies for executing your growth priority, you want to think about HOW you will do this.
Your action plan should include:
- Specific objectives: Clearly define what you want to achieve and set measurable goals.
- Strategies: Outline the strategies you’ll use to reach your objectives.
- Tactics: Break down your strategies into actionable steps and assign responsibilities.
- Timelines: Establish deadlines for each task or milestone.
- Budget: Determine the financial resources needed for implementation.
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Identify metrics to track progress and success.
I typically recommend no more than 5 strategies. For example, my strategies might be:
- Business Development
- Marketing
- Sales
- Training/Onboarding (new virtual technical producers and clients)
- Servicing my new clients
Then, under each of these I need to think about the specific objectives, the tactics under each one of these items, the timeline, the budget, and the KPIs.
This is where what I call the “art” of the plan comes in. No two action plans will look the same.
In conclusion, in the competitive landscape of 2024 and beyond, business planning is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. Completing a SWOT analysis, determining growth priorities, and creating an action plan will help your business thrive. As the statistics show, investing time and effort into planning can be the difference between success and struggle.
At Zenith Performance Solutions, we’re committed to helping businesses like yours achieve their goals through effective planning and strategic thinking. Contact us today to start planning for your business’s success in 2024 and beyond.
Want to do this in a live workshop? Join us for our Business Planning Workshop, where we will do exactly this, SWOT your business, make connections from your SWOT session, and draft growth priorities for 2024, and create an action plan.