At Kaizen we know putting a strategic plan in place for your business is vital for it’s long-term success, growth potential and sustainability. It gives you a clear direction, sets out your priorities, and helps you to make sure that you are using your resources effectively to meet your goals.

However, there are some potential downsides and negatives to planning like this and we thought some of you might be interested in reading about these before you started putting your strategic plan together and don’t forget we are here to help you with that, just get in touch.
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Allocate Strict Development Timetables

Developing a strategic plan can be both time and resource intensive. A good and worthwhile Strategic Plan needs thorough research and analysis and its likely it will involve consulting with others in the business and beyond. All this can divert attention away from day-to-day business activities and priorities. For these reasons you need to allocate sufficient time for your plans development but don’t necessarily aim for a ‘perfect’ strategic plan, especially if important daily activities are being compromised, get the balance right.
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Don’t be too inflexible

A strategic plan can sometimes lead to a business being too rigid in its planning processes and daily activity. The business in effect becomes too focused on the strategic plan and doesn’t take advantage of or adapt to the new opportunities or changes that are constantly happening in the marketplace.

It’s important to strike a balance between sticking to the plan and being flexible. This can be more difficult when a plan is highly detailed. At the initial plan development stages concentrate on broader concepts rather than going into every minute detail.
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Too Much Focus on Long-Term Goals

Strategic Plans often concentrate too much on longer term horizons and aims. Putting too much emphasis on long-term goals can sometimes lead to neglecting short-term needs and opportunities. By including short-term objectives in the strategic plan, you’ll be able to work on all the things that contribute to the overall success of the business now and in the future.
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Challenges When it Comes to Implementation

Strategic Plans can fail if they are not implemented effectively. It is important that you strongly and clearly communicate the Strategic Plan and its objectives to your management team and in turn employees before implementation. This way they can take ownership of their involvement in it. It is important to keep monitoring the plans implementation as this will highlight where objectives are not being met. This may be because these objectives are not realistic, so relook at them and where necessary adjust or reform them.

Creating a strategic plan can be challenging, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. We have a lot of experience in partnering with senior management to help you to put your strategic plan together. Why not ask us for an initial discussion, we would love to help you achieve your ambitions for growth and success.
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If you do need help with developing your strategic plan, call us on 01482 772261 or email us. We will be very happy to help you with any query you may have or come and see you for a no cost initial consultation.