Strategic planning, who needs it?

One of our Business Advisors has recently discovered strategic planning.

“It’s a passionate relationship and one I can see myself maintaining for a lifetime.”

Here he explains why..

Soon after I joined Altitude Advisory we had a session on what our ‘ideal client’ looked like, and no it wasn’t blonde hair blue eyes… although, I would love to be an Altitude client.

I learnt that our ideal client was just like us: passionate about what they do, ambitious and striving to get better!

It was that last bit that stayed with me, “striving to get better”, as this is on my mind every day that I wake-up and every night before I go to sleep. I was so glad to see it was a pre-requisite for our client base too.

But what does it really mean? Doesn’t everyone strive to get better?

Well, most people will have you think that they are reading a new book or watching an educational series to get better… which, could well be the truth. To me though, those who honestly strive to get better put their money where their mouth is and invest in the best.

Makes sense to me, that’s how we consultants make a living right?

But what about when it comes to ‘Us’: we are the Business Advisers, we run the strategic planning days, we help our clients grow their businesses and get the life they want. So, if we want to “invest in the best”, surely, we can just run some sessions our self, yeah?

Well actually no, that’s not quite the case.

Speaking with Tony Catt, the CEO of our group, I was made aware that even we hire experts to facilitate our strategic planning days.

I mean if we hire experts to help us, and we do this stuff every day, there must be some value they can add… or is it because we aren’t good enough?

That’s not quite it, there’s definitely value they can add, let me explain…

1. Many business owners fall prey to wearing both hats i.e. facilitator and participator, when it comes to strategic planning, reducing their ability to perform at the highest level in either of these roles and ultimately impacting on the outcomes of the session.
   So even though our bosses are capable, it is not the time or place for them to be facilitating the discussion.
2. Even equipped businesses, with great minds and years of experience still benefit from an independent party who can:

• Facilitate the conversation
• Keep discussion on track; and
• Extract all the nitty gritty details… which a friend or colleague may avoid.

And that is why, no matter what business you run, no matter what experience you have, you never know what an expert strategic planning facilitator can drag out from deep within you.

So, what do I get out of a well-run ‘strategic planning day’?

You would be surprised how many people have no idea that they are on course to a future that they have no desire to reach… and that is what I LOVE about strategic planning, solving this problem!

Let’s get to the heart and soul of what you want to be doing and get a plan in place now, before it’s too late. Whether its extreme business growth, a more practical work-life balance, the ultimate sale of your business, let’s get you pointed in the right direction and let’s do this better!

I hope this helps in some way to display the value of what we offer in our strategic planning days. It is an investment in your business and your future, one which we would love to help you to achieve.