Strategic planning has been the first step for businesses and corporations of all sizes for many years. Implementing a solid and effective strategic plan beforehand can make all the difference between a successful and failing company. A strategic plan is an outline of a potential organization’s plans and goals, and how the organization plans to achieve them. Very in depth, strategic planning takes focus and paying close attention to detail.

Varieties of strategic plans exist and can vary according the type of business, size and overall goals of the company. Below is a brief outline and step-by-step guide to assist budding entrepreneurs with getting started on the right track.

1.Define a Purpose. Draft a mission statement. The word draft is used because as time passes and business progresses, the mission statement will undergo a few changes as well. The mission statement educates potential investors and consumers about the specified product or service how it can be of value to the potential consumer. A mission statement is a paragraph, usually only a few sentences, but can be longer if the situation calls for it.

2.Define Goals. What steps are necessary to fulfill the mission statement? In a general and brief fashion, list the goals to be completed for the mission statement to reign true. This requires a deeper look into the planning process and more importantly, foresight. Consider any possible obstacles and start to find ways to overcome them.

3.Define Strategies. How will I reach these goals? At this point in the planning process, specificity is paramount. Pay close attention to anything and everything that may have an effect on the organization, its intentions and decide how to handle the said situation. List the specific actions and responsibilities of every employee, department and group within the organization. List alternative strategies and take a look at the purpose and goals from every angle. The more in-depth the plan to start, the lesser chance of running into any issues later.

4.Take Action. It’s time to put the plan into play. It is important to stay on the path of the strategic plan. If your strategic plan dots every “I” and crosses every “t”, then this last step will not be a problem, as there should be no distractions.

Now that all of the specifics are out of the way, it’s time to sit back, not relax and observe your progress. Are goals being met? Is your consumer base growing? Keep track of what has and what hasn’t been accomplished and decide the next plan of action. Request feedback, take it into serious consideration and act on it.

The thought of drafting, designing and implementing a strategic plan makes it seem to be a daunting and downright tedious task. Although meticulous, a well crafted plan is the perfect first step to launching a thriving organization. The attached mind map presents the basics for strategic planning in a condensed, easy to remember format. Remember the four keywords to strategic planning: purpose, goals, strategies and action.

Many professional service firms put themselves at risk by only focusing on one single approach to business development. It could be networking or SEO, it could be word of mouth and referrals. Typically, it’s whatever they feel the most comfortable with, not necessarily the approach that will actually work the best to bring them in new clients.

This works fine when times are good and there’s plenty of work for everyone. However, when times get tough, if that single source stops working, they’re left high and dry.

My suggestion to clients is to protect against this by always having multiple approaches to win new clients. In particular, I suggest a Business Development Strategy which focuses on 4 types of client:

1. Current Clients: investing in “superpleasing” their highest potential current clients to secure their business, win expansion and extension projects, and get referrals to new clients. To do this, a Key Account Management or Client Relationship Management approach must be used.

2. High Probability Potential Clients: targeting 3-5 specific companies which meet the core criteria for being a good client ( in terms of their size, sector, location, leadership, cultural fit, etc.) and where there are alredy pre-exisiting relationships to increase the chances of winning work. For example, an ex client, or a contact that’s been nurtured over recent months. This requires the use of personal approaches – either direct contact with the potential client where there’s a pre-existing relationship, or asking for a referral if there isn’t one.

3. Ideal Potential Clients: focusing on 3-5 specific, named businesses who meet or exceed all the criteria for an ideal client – but where there’s no pre-existing relationship whcih could be leveraged to increase the chance of a sale. This, of course, is a long-term approach. It requires them to begin nurtuirng their relationship with the client – perhaps offering to run a seminar for free, or sending them a sequence of high value articles and ideas.

4. “Bluebirds”: the seemingly serendipitous clients that “drop in your lap” rather than being directly targeted. How can you attract and win business with these types of client? By having a method of getting in front of a broad range of prospects. E.g. speaking at seminars at client industry conferences, or optimising your website for keywords you know your potential clients use. Here, the trick is to find tactics which open up a broad range of potential clients, rather than the narrow focus of the previous approaches.

The starting point should always be to win more work from your current clients. Because they already know and trust you, the likelihood of winning new business is so much higher than with a “cold” or even “warm” prospect. After that, it’s important to use a portfolio approach. Balance the greater probability of success with a High Probability prospect with the higher potential of an Ideal Prospect. Wherever possible, still try to leave the possibility of a nice “bluebird” by having one of these channels live.

Bigger firms, able to invest more into marketing, can expand on this strategy simply by adding more individual names to the lists of current, high probability and ideal potential clients; or by adding and extra “bluebird” channel.

My advice for most firms though is to always add resources in that order. For many professionals, the “bluebird” channels (e.g. web, speaking, articles) are seductive ones as they offer the hope of attractive new clients without the challenge of personally engaging in the process. Resist the urge to focus too much effort on these channels – the most successful Business Development Strategy will focus on the more targeted, personal approaches.