Strategic Plan

Weave together :

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Market analysis
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Competitive analysis
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Partner types & candidates
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Costs & barriers

into a workable plan for your company.

Based on the market analysis and on profiles of candidate partners, you can modify and put real meat on the original “Initial Strategy Concept.” In fact, a strategy is often fairly easy to put together with all of the supporting information because you have done your homework. Keep in mind the following distinctions.

A strategic plan is not:	A strategic plan is:
A long, laborious document	A few pages long, maybe longer if you show a few options
An academic document	Business oriented
Fixed	Subject to change based on experience
A business plan with detailed financials	A document that gets everyone looking in the same direction

See an simple example of a strategic plan here.

A strategic plan is a rational statement of where you want to go and how you want to get there based on good information. Putting it together should help you think through what you are doing and it should encourage discussion, enthusiasm and team work.

A common approach which we have used to develop a strategic plan is a straightforward and even simplified “SWOT” analysis (SWOT = strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). We list all the “positives” and “negatives” we have learned about the market, including “gut feelings.” Such a listing task does not need to be systematic. In fact, it should be done as quickly as possible, not worrying about overlap and duplication. The point is to get all key points down. Then organize, consolidate, categorize and analyze. You can also develop a decision matrix, assigning various weights to key points, and so on, but this can get very sophisticated and is beyond our purpose here.

Generally, strategy options become more or less obvious from such an exercise. And it doesn’t take long. But there are always ambiguities, and you will find yourself thinking about them as you drive home, wanting to discuss key issues in staff meetings, wanting a little bit more supporting information, and so on. It’s OK. In fact, it’s a great feeling. You’re on the move.

But you’re not yet ready to put real numbers on your efforts. There are numbers floating around in your head based on the market potential you have identified, and you may even suspect this could be a key to your future. But you need one more step before you can put numbers on the market with a reasonable level of comfort: FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE. This comes with your first market visit.

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