All the C.O.R.E. Business System elements work together to create the ability to build a successful, profitable business is the capacity to identify a problem to solve, find the customers who have that problem, and then address the problem for them.
Begin Strong!
C.O.R.E. Genesis
In the beginning (or when you need to transform your business), you will focus on the C.O.R.E. Genesis components. The C.O.R.E. Genesis program focuses your team on those fundamentals during the start-up process. C.O.R.E. Genesis is also used during a business redesign to enable us to restructure and realign the business to improve effectiveness (reach the customer) and efficiency(maximize resource utilization).
C.O.R.E. Genesis focuses on:
- The Business Concept,
- The Market Opportunity,
- Resources Acquisition and Allocation, and
- The Business Entity.
Once you have defined your C.O.R.E. Genesis℠ elements, you need to translate them into actionable items.
C.O.R.E.℠ Genesis – Build A Strong Business from the Start
C.O.R.E.℠ Formation is for start-ups and
- the Concept is your business idea — well-defined and focused on solving a specific market need or problem.
- the Opportunity is the potential market for your business idea — this is your target market (you will identify a niche within this larger opportunity to go after).
- the Resources — the skills, equipment, space, funds, and everything you need to do business and serve your customers.
- the Entity or business model —
focuses your business on the “how” you will do business, your goals, the results, tax and legal structures, and how you will make money.
Translate Ideas into Solutions
“Is this a good idea? Is it a business?”
Your challenge is to take your idea and make it into a business — if it can make money and help people with their problems.
Concept - Your Business Idea
You have an idea. Maybe a concept for a product or service. Or you want to build a new technology to address a problem you have experienced. You have had ideas before and just weren’t sure what to do with them. As time went by you saw your idea on TV or in a store. Now you have a new idea and you are wondering:
“Is this a good idea? Is it a business?”
Your challenge is to take your idea and make it into a business — if it can make money and help people with their problems.
Your business idea, your business concept, will succeed or fail based on your ability to translate the idea into a clear, well-defined business model with a specific market opportunity.
Everyday people have ideas that are great, good or merely okay. What makes the difference? Is it the product or technology or the service alone? Or is it something more? I will argue that it is something more. You see a business concept or an idea for a product has to satisfy multiple elements to be successful. It has to:
- work.
- be produced or reproduced in quantity.
- have prospective customers see it as a solution, a viable alternative to what is being offered in the market now.
- benefit the buyer and the end user (not always the same people).
Finally, it needs a market large enough to be profitable.
Translating an Idea into a Business Concept
Okay, you have an idea. Now you need to determine if it satisfies all or some of these criteria as you have currently envisioned it. So your first step is to define in detail what your idea is, what problem it solves or need it fills. You need to identify who has the problem and what benefits they are looking for from any solution.
Explore the Three Components of Your Business Concept
To succeed, you need to define and clarify your business concept. Then you need to find its place in the market. By this I mean you will need to identify the actual “product” your business will sell. You will want to target a specific market/customer. Ultimately, you will need to create a business model that explains how you will do each of these elements while making money. Each of these is addressed in the C.O.R.E.℠ Genesis program.
The “Product”
When it comes to the product, you have to have a clear, concise, product description, including how it works and is used. Key elements of that product description are the benefits to the customer.
The Market/Customer
This is a critical element of success. So, you may have the greatest product. If you match it to the wrong customer, then you won’t succeed. You are working to identify the scope or number of people who have the problem, their awareness of the problem, what they are doing now (competitors), and what the customer values – how they make their buying decision
The Business
Creating a business means having the
As you work through the process of defining your product idea and business concept, examining what is in the market currently, and become an expert in your product, its potential, the potential customers, you will likely find yourself revising and tweaking your idea. Ultimately, you want a well-developed business concept before you move ahead.
Business Concept – Validating Your Idea
Crazy Ideas and Business Concept
Many highly successful businesses have been started on ideas other people thought were crazy. Many unsuccessful businesses were started as “sure things.” How do you know before you start if your idea is worthwhile? How do you determine if there are already “too many” other businesses out there doing what you want to do? Maybe your concern is that all the players in the business you want are established and have a huge share of the market? How do you decide? How much importance is there in how many competitors and other factors are at play in the business, industry, or niche you want to enter?
Business Concept Validation Questions
The questions above are all valid. There are as many answers to them as there are unique situations. While there are a number of factors to assist you in determining whether or not to start the business and/or which target market to pursue first, here are a few to consider:
1. How well recognized are you in the field you want to enter? Unknown or widely known?
2. How broad a client or customer base are you seeking? Individuals or businesses (a few large corporate clients or lots of small businesses)?
3. Are the clients you seek on-going, recurring, or one-time only?
4. How long can you take to establish and grow the business financially?
5. How is your business going to be different if others are in direct competition with you and already in the market?
6. Are you looking for the “cream” customers (top 10%) or are you looking for volume?
7. Do you have competitive advantage in technology, processes, or business knowledge?
8. What are you going to do differently to stand out?
9. Can you develop collaborative and other relationships that will jumpstart your business?
10. Why you, because you are part of the “product”?
Some of the questions above are very similar or related to each other. The answer to each provides a differentiation point or unique selling perspective that needs to be conveyed to the client. Many smaller companies have entered markets where huge companies have near monopoly power. They not only succeeded, they changed the market in such a way that they knocked the giant company out of the way and significantly impacted the “playing field.”
Keep in mind that victory often goes to the most nimble, flexible, and consistent competitor – not the biggest, flashiest, or the one with the deepest pockets. Some ideas really are non-starters; most, however, simply require sound business practices, marketing and sales know-how, and the financial resources and patience to do the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.
Take Time To Validate Your Business Concept
As you validate your concept, keep these points in mind:
– First to market doesn’t equate to ultimate success.
– Sound business practices and processes enhance any product or service – and bottom-line returns.
– It is often better to follow the good idea today, rather than waiting for an “ideal” time and place or the great idea tomorrow.
– Having a quantifiable, measurable, time-specific objective and a plan will keep you focused and on track.
– Changing direction or deviating from your plan is fine – be certain the change is as conscious decision as possible: understand what you are responding to and why – adapt, change and thrive.
– Ask for help – everyone needs objective perspectives and expert advice. Find it, use it, or adapt it – don’t go blindly forward if you don’t have to.
Most of all, don’t be afraid to try. The worst case is that you have a fantastic learning experience. A business of your own may not ultimately be what you want or what best suits you. Try it, you may just find being your own boss is exactly what you’ve been seeking.
10 Elements of Successful Businesses
While every business has elements that are unique to it. Every successful business shares common characteristics with other successful businesses.
Concept
The first element of a successful business is a clear concept of what the business is and does. This concept is more than the idea for a product or service or technology. It includes an understanding that there are a market need and opportunity that seems to have the potential for profit. In the initial stage of defining your business concept, you may not know the true market potential, but you have identified through observation, trends, or personal experience that a problem or need exists.
Market Expertise
That awareness leads to the second element of every successful 
business: an in-depth market knowledge of the problem or need. Business owners need to understand:
- The current options for solving the problem or filling the need
- Who is providing solutions and alternatives
- The size of the market (how many people have the issue)
- What value does the market member (potential buyer) place on a solution
- What benefits drive their purchasing decisions
Target Customer
Successful businesses become an expert in the problem, market, and customer, then they put in place the third and fourth elements of success—the target customer, and the solution you create for that customer—that comprise their business’s unique selling position. This is the first element of a well-articulated market message I call it the business’s C.O.R.E.℠ message where the C is about the customer (more on this later).
The unique selling position must match to the customer’s need, problem to your business capability. Find the customer demand; then use your skills, expertise, experience, product, service, and technology to provide the solution to that customer segment. A business can serve any customer that wants to buy their solution, but they cannot target every customer. By developing a focus on a particular segment of the market (also called a market niche or target market), a business is able to invest its limited resources toward connecting with prospects that have a specific need.
This is particularly important when going after the first customers and getting started. You don’t have time or money to spend casting a wide net. Your business (to continue the fishing analogy) needs to cast a well-baited hook into a specific location within the ocean of fish. The right bait (solution, benefits, and price) will enable you to get the right prospects to move toward your hook. You aren’t solving the problem for everyone; instead, you are solving the problem for a customer with a specific set of characteristics — one of which is they are aware they have the problem and they are looking for a solution and they have a benefit-value (price) in mind.
A C.O.R.E.℠ Message
The fifth element of success builds on the first four elements we have already discussed. Successful businesses have a C.O.R.E. ℠ message, in which the Customer (C) is clearly defined, as is the Result (R) defined by the benefits to the customer are stated.
Operational Results – Make Right Things Happen
The (O) in C.O.R.E. ℠ is Operations; in other words, what systems you put in place you keep your promises to the customer. This is the sixth element of a successful business and consists of defining how you will do business and make money. The operational aspect of the business is equally important as the product/solution you sell. The reality is it doesn’t matter how great the solution or how many prospects you have or even how many people say, “Yes I’ll buy,” IF you can’t deliver. The operations of the business determine how much it costs to do business, to keep the promise to the customer, to product and deliver the product, etc. Countless businesses have started with a great idea, found the right market, built a fabulous product or technology, and went out of business—because they couldn’t operate their business properly.
This brings us to the seventh element, which is an additional variation on the (R) in C.O.R.E. ℠ This R is also about Results but focuses on the results the business generates by generating the promised customer result (solving the problem). The business results or goals/targets consistently involve three key metrics: Revenues, profits, and cash flow. These financial metrics reflect the ability of the business to get the sale, deliver the product, obtain resources, control costs, and do business. These results are also indicators of the effectiveness of the business’s Ability to Execute.
The final component of C.O.R.E.℠, Execution (E), is the act of serving the customer and doing business. This is also the eight-element of a successful business and can make or break a company. I have worked with clients who acquired important technology and product solutions from companies who failed to execute. They either failed to define the business, to find the customer, to develop the customer’s understanding of the solution’s benefits, mismanaged the production or operations, or all of the above. If you can’t do it, then you won’t succeed. Whether it is analysis paralysis, waiting for a “perfect” time, or moving too quickly or too slowly, the reality is that you have to execute to succeed.
The Business Entity Model
Sometimes the inability to execute effectively resides in the ninth element of success: A business plan and model that clearly identifies how you will generate revenue and profit. This means you have a plan of action and are not just doing random things hoping they work. It takes your business concept and gets into the details. It matches up the market problem with your capabilities and defines the solution you are selling to that specific market niche. It takes all the ideas, assumptions, and pieces of your business and pulls them together.
The model is actually more about the process of developing the model and planning than it is about the document you produce. That said, in practice, I ask my clients to put everything down on paper, especially if there are multiple founders/managers/investors involved because it forces everyone to literally get on the same page and agree on the content from who the customer is, to the size of the opportunity, to the resources that will be needed, to the timing of key milestones, and all the other operational, financial, and execution aspects of the business.
The business model that clearly identifies how to make a profit also requires that you quantify your assumptions. This means that you take all the financial information you have and generate financial statement forecasts, sources and uses of funds, the timing of cash flows. These financial forecasts, budgets, and performance metrics and milestones are the tenth success factor. The financial statements planned versus the actual results enable you to manage the resources of your business. They enable you to know what went according to plan and what didn’t. They enable corrective action and an objective evaluation of what is and isn’t working in your business.
10 Critical Elements Your C.O.R.E.℠ Business Needs to be Successful
So once again here are the ten things your business needs to lay the foundation of success:
- Clear Concept
- Expert market knowledge of the problem, size of the opportunity, etc.
- Specific customer
- Specific market niche or solution
- C.O.R.E. ℠ Message
- Well-designed Operations (systems, processes, etc.)
- Results (Goals, performance metrics, etc.)
- Execution — ability to take action to generate desired results
- Business Model
- Financial Information (planned and actual)
Validating Your Business Concept
To know whether or not you have a viable business concept, you have to comprehensively define (on paper) your thoughts, ideas, and vision. You also need to gather information related to those ideas: market size, competitors, pricing, and so on. With that information in mind, you begin the process of determining if you are on track to a successful business. The first question to ask – Is your idea a good one or not?
Many highly successful businesses have been started on ideas other people thought were crazy. Many unsuccessful businesses were started as “sure things.” How do you know before you start if your idea is worthwhile? How do you determine if there are already “too many” other businesses out there doing what you want to do? Maybe your concern is that all the players in the business you want are established and have a huge share of the market? How do you decide? How much importance is there in how many competitors and other factors are at play in the business, industry, or niche you want to enter?
The questions above are all valid. There are as many answers to them as there are unique situations. While there are a number of factors to assist you in determining whether or not to start the business and/or which target market to pursue first, here are a few to consider:
- How well recognized are you in the field you want to enter? Unknown or widely known?
- How broad a client or customer base are you seeking? Individuals or businesses (a few large corporate clients or lots of small businesses)?
- Are the clients you seek on-going, recurring, or one-time only?
- How long can you take to establish and grow the business financially?
- How is your business going to be different if others are in direct competition with you and already in the market?
- Are you looking for the “cream” customers (top 10%) or are you looking for volume?
- Do you have competitive advantage in technology, processes, or business knowledge?
- What are you going to do differently to stand out?
- Can you develop collaborative and other relationships that will jumpstart your business?
- Why you, because you are part of the “product”?
Some of the questions above are very similar or related to each other. The answer to each provides a differentiation point or unique selling perspective that needs to be conveyed to the client. Many smaller companies have entered markets where huge companies have near monopoly power. They not only succeeded, they changed the market in such a way that they knocked the giant company out of the way and significantly impacted the “playing field.”
Keep in mind that victory often goes to the most nimble, flexible, and consistent competitor – not the biggest, flashiest, or the one with the deepest pockets. Some ideas really are non-starters; most, however, simply require sound business practices, marketing and sales know-how, and the financial resources and patience to do the right things, at the right time, for the right reasons.
As you validate your concept, keep these points in mind:
- First to market doesn’t equate to ultimate success.
- Sound business practices and processes enhance any product or service – and bottom-line returns.
- It is often better to follow the good idea today, rather than waiting for an “ideal” time and place or the great idea tomorrow.
- Having a quantifiable, measurable, time-specific objective and a plan will keep you focused and on track.
- Changing direction or deviating from your plan is fine – be certain the change is as conscious decision as possible: understand what you are responding to and why – adapt, change and thrive.
- Ask for help – everyone needs objective perspectives and expert advice. Find it, use it, or adapt it – don’t go blindly forward if you don’t have to.
Most of all, don’t be afraid to try. The worst case is that you have a fantastic learning experience. A business of your own may not ultimately be what you want or what best suits you. Try it, you may just find being your own boss is exactly what you’ve been seeking.
Solutions for Problems
What is the market potential and viability of a business based on your concept and solution? The ability of your business to succeed and thrive depends on upon your market potential or how many people—or businesses—have the problem you solve.
Opportunity
The Market Potential and Viability of Your Business Concept
The ability of your business to succeed and thrive depends on upon your market potential or how many people—or businesses—have the problem you solve. The more prospective customers, in general, the more viable your business could be. More prospects often equate to more sales. When prospects are aware of their need and are in solution identification mode, your business increases the probability of success.
While you need a large enough pool of potential customers for your business/idea to be viable, it doesn’t mean you have to go after the largest market segment. Many businesses succeed by targeting a small segment and capturing more of the market (market share).
Not Too Big, Not Too Small — Just Right to Build Success
Ideally, the market opportunity you are looking for is large enough for you to have enough potential customers for your business to thrive, but not so many prospects that you can’t afford to reach them. You are looking for an opportunity that balances the market segment size with your ability (efficiency and cost-effectiveness) to pursue them. I have worked with several client companies developing new technologies, and as they were seeking investors for expansion, they would hear, “There isn’t enough market potential: The group with the problem is too small.”
Well, these clients proved that having a relatively small market (a few million) versus a larger market (tens of millions) can work. Instead of spending to capture a fractional share of a large market, they were able to capture a majority share of the smaller market segment. The revenues and profits from their market share of the smaller segment have far surpassed estimates of their potential in pursuing a larger market segment.
Identify an Unserved or Under-served Market Opportunity
So in looking for your market opportunity, evaluate the marketplace and look for the people not being served, the underserved, or the ones who can’t afford current solutions as starting points. Dig into the details and understand the various ways the market can be divided. Find a starting point; even a small segment can give you a foundation to demonstrate your concept, start generating sales and build your reputation (credibility) as a business and for your solution.
Do Your Market Research!
Take time to survey what the product and service offerings are currently for the problem you address. Talk to existing customers of would-be competitors and learn what they want from a product, why they purchased the solution, and understand your market. Then begin to narrow your focus. Find one segment to pursue and generate some sales. When you have demonstrated success, you can take on another market segment that is adjacent or similar to your first targets.
The more you know about your market, the segmentation, and the customers, the better your chance of success. Look for an opportunity where you “get” the customer. Start there and then build your business model and develop your value proposition is your CORE message.
Time, Money and Talent
Your business will succeed or fail based on the resources you have or can access. Resources include people and money (your and other people’s (OPM)) business, get the first sales, etc.).
Resources
Time, Money and Talent
Your business will succeed or fail based on the resources you have or can obtain. Resources include skills/abilities from the team you assemble, money (your and other people’s (OPM)), and time (the time it takes to reach your goals, develop your idea, build your business, get the first sales, etc.).
All resources eventually flow back to cash. How much cash do you have to pay people, buy materials, rent needed space, etc.? So a key aspect of developing your business and product ideas is to determine:
- What resources do you need
- When do you need them
- How much will those resources cost
- What return (cash) will they generate and when
Equity and Debt Sources
So your financial resource needs come in two primary categories: equity (ownership) and debt (borrowed money). Your access to resources beyond your funds and skills is dependent upon developing your business Concept, identifying your market opportunity, quantifying your resource sources and uses, and developing a cohesive, understandable, compelling business story.
Whether you are seeking investors or lenders (banks, etc.), you have to persuade them that your idea will work. You also need them to know you have done your homework and can articulate the problem/solution set you are pursuing. They want to be convinced of your capability to pursue the Opportunity and the viability (size) of the Opportunity. The more homework you do to validate your concept, define the opportunity and quantify the resources needed to capitalize (profit) the more credible you become.[1]
Credibility – The Key to Other People’s Money
The ability to access OPM (other people’s money) through investors or debt agreements comes down to the confidence the decision-makers who control those funding sources have in you and your team. These funding gatekeepers may be using their own money or funds entrusted to them, so they need information that convinces them that you have done your homework. One of the most critical elements in their decision is your Entity (or Business) Model. (See the Entity page of this website for more information.)
Resources you may need:
- Office/production space
- Computers and related equipment
- Software
- Contractors, Consultants, and Advisors – tax, accounting, legal, marketing, etc.
- The website, email, and domain
- Telephones
- Meeting space,
- Office and computer supplies
- Travel: Hotels, mileage, parking/tolls, meals, etc.
- Licenses
- Memberships, Dues, and Subscriptions
- Payroll services, wages, taxes, etc.
- Property taxes
- Sales and Use taxes
- Specialized equipment
- Marketing materials
- Conference fees
- Sponsorship fees
- Tradeshow/Event Displays
- Vehicles
- Business insurance: general, inland marine, umbrella, product, workers compensation, business disruption, etc.
- Working capital
The Business Entity Helps Determine Resource Access
As you define your Entity model, you should map your processes and make a note of the specific resources you will need. Then hit the internet and look for the cost and alternatives for those items. Again, the more detail you can identify and quantify, the greater your chance of success – in the business and in getting the funding you need.
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is underestimating the cost of getting started and the on-going costs (working capital). Under-capitalizing your business can put you out of business, even with a great Concept, the right Opportunity, and the best Entity model.
[1] See this website for information on the Viability, Capability, Credibility, and Visibility components of business
The Business Entity Model – Making Money
The business model is built on your business Concept, the market Opportunity you have identified, the Resources you have and need, and the “how” you plan to do business.
Entity - Making Money
The business Entity refers to how you generate sales and profits. So the business entity model includes key decisions on the legal and tax structures, as well as:
- strategic relationships
- core activities
- resources
- value proposition
- customer relationships
- channels
- customer segment, market niche, target customer
- cost structure
- revenue sources.
Building a Business Model
As you plan your business, you will be making decisions on the legal and tax structure, which will influence your business entity model – how you make money.
Build your business model based on your solution Concept, the market Opportunity you have identified, the Resources you have and need, and the “how” you plan to do business. How includes answers to operational questions like:
- Virtual or brick and mortar or both
- Lease/rent office space or work from home
- Use office suites or a fully private space
- One location or two
- E-commerce or storefront or both
- What you sell — Sales assumptions – price, quantity
- Cost of sales/goods — Operational costs
- Staffing
- Salaries and wages
- Advertising, marketing, and
- Others
The Business Plan — The Business Entity Model Defined
The business model is the process of doing business. Because you include in the business plan the details of your assumptions on how the business will operate (how you get and use resources) and generate sales, cash, and profits, you will have answers to critical questions that stakeholders will ask. Therefore, think of the business plan as a virtual start-up of your business. It is the who does what, what do they do, how do they do it, when do they do it, where, and how much does it cost.
Also, if you plan to use OPM (other people’s money (investors and lenders), you will need a well-defined, a description of how you do business. Your plan includes documented assumptions and how you developed those from sources of your information (market research, prices, etc.), and operational practices. These are the key areas:
- Business concept/executive summary
- Market Analysis and Target Market
- Customer Avatar – identifying the ideal customer ·Operations
- Team/staffing
- Sales Model
- Competitive Advantages
- Financial Pro
formas (forecasted financial statements) - Go-to-market strategy
- Risk and Opportunity assessment.
Viable, Capable, Credible and Visible — Four Factors that Impact Success
So, the more you think through and quantify your ideas, the more opportunity you have to refine your ideas. The stronger your business concept, the easier it is to develop your business Entity model. The business planning process enables you to work out some of the bugs before you begin spending and investing in the actual business. While your business will not be as planned, you cannot underestimate the importance of going through the process of planning. Because you work out key elements and think through your assumptions before your doors open, you can avoid some costly mistakes.
In the long run, the business plan saves time and money. Therefore, you have greater credibility when talking with potential investors and lenders. Your confidence grows as a result of thinking through your assumptions, resource needs, identification of the customer, etc. You have answers to key questions. Those answers increase your capability and credibility with those you seek as customers, lenders, employees, vendors, and investors. The business model, how you make money, is important to gaining access to the capital you need through operational results (sales and profits) or from other sources (equity and debt).
Strategic Plan: Your Five-Year Roadmap to Success
Too often, the owners of many businesses of all sizes and industries don’t see the need for a strategic plan. They make critical decisions on which deals to do, what systems to put in place, and who to hire based on the current vision of the business. They focus on the near term of the current year or at best the year to come.
In the past month, I have met with non-profits and for-profits who have yet to even think about a budget for next year, let alone a five-year plan for their organizations. When pressed for revenue and funding goals, they throw out a number that sounds good to them. Do they have a date for when they want to achieve that number or a plan to get there? No. “Sometime in the future” is the most common reply.
What is your vision for the organization? “We’ll be a $X business.” Or “We want to raise $N to fund our cause.”
That’s no way to run a successful long term business. It’s essential that you can realistically answer the following questions (at any time during the year):
- How are you going to do that?
- When will you get there?
- Who is going to be involved?
- What is the plan?
Tomorrow Never Comes
The future doesn’t just happen. Tomorrow doesn’t come because when we wake up it is today! Today is the day we must define who and what we want to become. We have to sit down today and decide who our clients are and what their needs are. We must clarify our vision and set goals to make that vision happen.
If you want to do more, then you have to DO MORE!
The year flies by and before we know it a new year begins. My recent conversations with organization’s leaders have been about how to get their performance to improve. If you want to do more, then you have to DO MORE! Whether your business is a for-profit or a non-profit, if you want a bigger impact then it means doing more to make it happen.
A new calendar or fiscal year is just around the corner and it will be here before you are ready. That is especially true if you are waiting until 6 – 8 weeks before it’s due to start making plans for your organization. One non-profit board chairman told me they won’t start working on a budget or fundraising plan until November for the new operating year that starts in January. I asked about their strategic plan and vision for the organization. He said they had been working on one for the past several years.
Yes, they have been working on developing a vision and a strategy for their organization for several years. They are currently just “going along” raising “enough funds to keep the lights on.” I was asked to work with this non-profit’s development (fundraising) team, whose stated goal was to at least double the funding they currently have. This 10+-year-old non-profit has a fantastic opportunity to DO MORE to serve their community. Yet they aren’t because there is no vision. There isn’t a plan to serve or to fund.
Timing is Almost Everything
The non-profit had an opportunity to pursue a multi-year grant that would cover more than half of their operational costs each year. They couldn’t pursue the funding because they didn’t have the strategic plan, a budget, or a timeline to support funding activities. In general, they start looking for funding for a year when that year gets started. What?!
The time to raise funds is when the funding is available AND before you need it.
Strategic Plans — Roadmap to Success
Not having a strategic, long-term plan is a recipe for failure. Without a plan, you can’t share your vision for the organization or set a clear direction for your team, volunteers, and other stakeholders. Without a strategic plan, you don’t know which opportunities and priorities to pursue. You also don’t have the ability to get others to join in to help you succeed. Stakeholders, including (and often especially) funding sources, want to know you have a vision and a plan. They want to know you have taken the time to create a roadmap for organizational success.
Steps to Develop Your Strategic Plan
- Define the vision for the organization.
- Specify size – revenues to generate or funds to raise
- Specify customer — who do you serve and how do you serve them
- Set goals — translate the vision into specific, measurable, achievable (with some stretch), result-oriented, time-based goals.
- Cash, milestones, and timelines — when do things need to happen
- When are grant and other funding sources making decisions
- When will you need cash flow to fund growth, pay bills, hire more people
- What are the needs of the organization to “keep the lights on”
- Actions, Activity and Opportunity
- Activity – things that keep the organization going
- Opportunity – things that you pursue because they impact the goals
- Actions — things you take because they move you toward your priorities and goals.
Your strategic plan—or lack thereof—will determine how successful your organization is. It will change as you get more information and learn from implementation. The process of planning for your future will align the vision, motivate your team, and enable the entire organization to focus on the priorities to make that plan happen.
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