Planning without overwhelm

In the final part of this three-part series, David Smithson-Rudd examines the steps needed to ensure you have prepared your business for the future.

When thinking about the future, some find it exciting; others worry about potential disasters. In previous times, we’d have considered the latter group pessimists, or just plain negative, but the twenty-first century has already provided quite a few shocks to the system. After various wars, terror attacks, the Great Recession, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Trump boomerang, who can blame anyone for feeling pessimistic? Personally, I’m still struggling to get past Carol Vorderman leaving Countdown. Her rebirth as the Boudica of compassionate and progressive politics is somewhat a tonic, though.

As business leaders, we must always keep one eye on the future, even though it is likely to be full of events that none of us were able to predict. Securing your foundations and optimising the everyday collectively ensure that you’re operating soundly and effectively in the present day, and you’ve already addressed any issues from the past. Now, let’s look at the future.

The reality of strategic planning

Most founders do not make anywhere near as much time for this as they should. When they do, they do it once a year, often just before their new financial year starts. This just isn’t enough. Revisiting at your plan infrequently or sporadically can create a variety of blind spots, as you are only reviewing your plan through the lens of what’s happening at that moment. Frequent reviews help dampen the chances of blind spots emerging.

Another key point to make before we delve into the ‘how’ is that strategic planning isn’t just about scaling your business; it could also be about succession, or just keeping the wheels turning in a more sustainable manner. It could even be about you exiting the market, or your personal departure from the business. The important part is establishing your desired destination, then creating the journey there.

Questions worth asking

Much like the first two parts of this series, we need to ask ourselves a series of questions to help us determine where we want the business to go in the future:

• What do I want this business to become?

• How is the market likely to change in the next 1, 3 and 5 years?

• Are we set up to adapt to that?

• Are our employees able to deliver in that environment?

• Am I still enjoying this?

The first four questions are obviously important, but I’m often amazed at how many people (both founders and employees) overlook the fifth. I don’t know about you, but if I don’t enjoy something then, more often than not, I’m not going to be particularly good at it. At the very least, I expend far more mental energy ensuring I follow through at the right standard.

Regardless of your answer to this question, it’s important to remember that other events and developments will shape our future just as much, and in some cases, more. What is happening today is relatively unlikely to be replicated in five years’ time. Technology improves, working culture evolves, the external business environment changes around us. Trump’s tariffs and their effect on the world markets are a classic (and rather worrying) example.

Addressing the questions above will mean that you’re prepared and much more likely to stay on course and, if curveballs present themselves, you can determine solutions or back-up plans that help keep you on track with your overall aims.

How Consult DSR can help

Breaking through the fear is often the first step, and this action can be as simple as getting in touch for an initial conversation. We can talk about:

• Figuring out your long-term vision for your business

• Creating tactical plans that help you get there

• Bringing your employees up to speed, both with information and skills

• Assessing your current culture, and evolving it to match your plans

While spreadsheets, flowcharts and strategy diagrams have their place, most of the work will be through discussion and exploration, with the end products easily digestible by all. As I’ve said previously, this will be done with grace and consideration.

An important (and hopefully relaxing) note to conclude with is that you don’t have to have a full five-year roadmap at the end of the process; you just need to start somewhere, then build upon and refine your plan as time progresses. It all starts with that first conversation. Reach out to me today to make a start, you’ll be pleased you did, and it won't be long before you're rewarding yourself and your people for your efforts.