Plan Ahead, Stay Ahead: Why Waiting to Plan for 2025 Could Cost You

What difference will a strategic plan do for you, your business, and your team in 2025?

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” – Japanese proverb.

It’s been 200+ days since we last got load shedding.

And you haven’t started planning for 2025 yet …?

Everyone’s tripping over the new AI models and trying to catch a rocket ship, but no amount of new technology is going to alter the fact that, to achieve success, business owners must roll up their sleeves, put on their thinking caps, and map their journeys forward.

This means building your strategies and creating smart, executable plans that are fundamental to every facet of even the most complex business.

Earlier in the year I wrote about strat planning in January, for those who hadn’t yet put a plan together. This year I’m writing it early. Like we always do @thealternative Board we plan early.

We begin by reviewing the past year - what went well, what disappointed us etc. It is a useful exercise to count your wins and acknowledge what changes have occurred.

Consider where we are, perhaps your financial year ends in December, or maybe it ends in Feb. By planning now, we put ourselves in pole position to roll over into the next financial year with fresh thinking.

There are three types of starts to the new year that a business could have;

There’s the slow, sluggish pull off because you still need to check the tires, change the engine oil, check the address, type it into the GPS, reset the seat position and … sigh. Sounds boring and wastes valuable time.

Or maybe your starts are frantic, hitting the ground running with frenetic energy and impatience, kinda like when I’m in a rush leaving the house and I must go back two more times to get things I forgot.

The third start is one that was mapped out and planned of time. All the bags are waiting in the foyer just waiting for us to load up the car and leave.

We like the third kind.

If you’re not currently working on a strategic plan for 2025, now is the time to start.

I know we’re heading into ‘silly season’ and for many companies it can get crazy. I get it, I really do because I’ve been there. Trying to coordinate diaries with key stakeholders and at the same time complete orders for customers are typical challenges at this time of year.

And take this with a pinch of salt. Are you using the season busyness as an excuse?

Intentionally finding and investing the time and energy now to strategize and plan for 2025 will make a world of difference. Here are three tips to help you get started:

Always Start with Vision

Ja you’ve heard me say it before. When strategic planning, all roads should lead back to the vision of your organization.

Your company’s vision should act as the guide for every decision you make. It determines every goal you set throughout your business.

So let’s assume you took the advice, and you have a clear Vision statement, if not;

Click here to read “Unlocking Success: The Power of a Clear Vision in Business” at The Alternative Board (TAB).

Reflect on your vision and ask,

? In which key segments of our business have we moved the dial forward?

? Where have we fallen back?

? How has our thinking around the Vision changed?

Through reflection, we can identify areas of focus.

Review your SWOT analysis

Conduct a high-level review of your business. Checking what has changed in your assessment of the internal and external environments might seem boring, but how else will you get to your CSFs? More on that shortly.

At TAB we run a year-end sequence that delves into a detailed review of the past year.

It gives us a big picture view of what must be changed and what must be maintained. It brings clarity to our thinking. To help with that ask,

? What improvements must be made?

? How does this affect our role and how does the role you play need to change?

? How does this affect our products and services and our target market

Think about your personal role, your customers, your competition and your production / operations capabilities.

Critical Success Factors & Goals

Remember the ‘CSF’s I spoke of earlier? Your review should help you identify 3-5 factors in your business that hold the keys to your success.

You must focus on them.

Give them your full energy.

They could be projects, metrics, quality measures or human elements. If you get distracted from these, you will have to swerve not to hit the curb.

Now write up some SMART goals for these CSF’s. Don’t shy away from clearly stating what must get done.

Conclusion

This is the best time to start planning for next year. Make it a priority to get ahead of the curve so you can take a well-deserved rest.

1.????? Start with a Vision.

2.????? Conduct a Review of the previous year.

3.????? Identify what is critical to your Success and clearly define goals to achieve it.

"In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell."

― Jack Welch

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If you liked this article, please like, share, and comment.

Would you like to arrange an Annual Planning Retreat? Send me a DM or contact me via [email protected] or 078-804-2347

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Cheers,

Coach Colin at the Alternative Board

Coach. Facilitator. Change Agent.

Live Better. Lead Better. Grow more.