5 Actionable Strategic-Planning Tips To Boost Business Efficiency. This handful of pointers can prime your business for immense profitability.

For every business, whether large or small, being able to plan effectively is crucial for growth and survival in today’s highly competitive markets. Implementation is important, but unless action is properly focused, it’ll yield only minimal results, if any. When it comes to strategic planning for your business, there are several things you’ll need to keep in consideration to ensure success and profitability, starting with these formative five.

1. Set granular goals.

The difference between a strategic plan and business plan is essentially in how granular they are. While your business plan should be a high-level overview of your goals and what you intend to achieve, your strategic plan must divide the objectives into their component parts and outline every step you’ll take to achieve them. That way, you’ll be able to see what needs to be done on a day-to-day basis and assign essential tasks to team members while being able to see how every piece intersects to help your company achieve its goals.

2. Select metrics and track religiously.

When you’ve detailed your goals, the next step will be to select the metrics by which you’ll track your progress. Many business owners make the mistake of focusing on the wrong metrics. The crucial ones depend on your particular industry and goals, but generally, you should prioritize sales, customer engagement and referral rates, because they reflect long-term success better than, say, web traffic.

You’ll then need to track your metrics comprehensively. Make sure your collection methods are effective so you’re not working with defective data, which can lead to bad decisions. Keep an eye on each metric, but remember to consider how they all fit into the bigger picture so you can use the information to tweak your strategic plan over time.

3. Work With a mentor.

Having an experienced mentor is crucial in business, affecting everything from hiring success and employee turnover to sales and profits. The likes of Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs have all stated that having a mentor to whom they could turn for guidance in trying times was a crucial part of their success.

Read more: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/341784