Expert Strategic Business Planning Tips for 2023 That Move the Needle
Strategic planning goes hand in hand. It’s mind-boggling to me how many businesses get bootstrapped together with absolutely no plan. Now don’t get me wrong, some people have pulled it off and made a successful go at it. But trust me, that doesn’t last for long. The minute their hobby becomes a viable business, the business strategy comes into play. Strategic planning is a must for any business if you are ever going to scale or keep your sanity.
Strategic planning helps you set goals and direction for your business and helps with long-term planning, asset management, and risk management. It enables you to make decisions that are in the best interest of your business. It is essential to plan ahead so that you don’t find yourself in a situation where you have no idea what to do next. This will ensure that your business is always moving forward and growing.
Blog Overview
- Revenue stream strategy
- Define your ideal client
- Identify the top 5 priorities for your business for 2023
- Identify milestones and goals
- Decide on 1-3 marketing tactics most important for your business and double down on those
- Client acquisition strategy and client retention strategy
- Needed Resources
- Create a financial plan with revenue goals and expenses budget
- Business Planning Can Prevent Pitfalls
Revenue stream strategy.
The revenue stream strategy is all about sales and marketing. This is where you determine how your business will generate revenue. If you are starting a new business, knowing which channels will be best for you from the beginning is essential. This will allow you to focus on the most effective and profitable channels. If you already have a business, it is important to regularly review your revenue stream strategy. You should constantly evaluate and improve which channels work best for your company.
Define your ideal client.
The best way to define your ideal client is by creating a persona. A persona is an archetype of the type of person you want to work with. A persona should include all of the demographics that matter most to you and any relevant information about the kind of person who would be interested in working with your business. It is important to keep in mind that your business will only be successful if you can attract the right people.
Once you have defined your ideal client, you must make sure you are marketing and advertising in a way that appeals to them. Try testing different messages on two groups of people to see which one performs better. If you have been in business for some time, each year, it’s a good idea to create a new version of your ICA persona that stay with the times.
Identify the top 5 priorities for your business for 2023.
This will help you to focus on what’s important and stop wasting time on things that don’t matter. If you have a team working with you, get each one’s top 5 priorities and compare them to ensure they align with yours. If they aren’t, talk about why they differ and see if anything can be done to align them. This will help align your business goals with those of your team members.
Identify milestones and goals.
Think about where you will be in 2023 (marketing, team, revenue), then work backward to identify the milestones and goals you need to achieve each year. This will help you prioritize what you need to do each year and create a roadmap for reaching your goals. It’s also important to identify what you want from each milestone. For example, if one of your milestones is building a 5-person team, you may want to focus on defining roles, hiring talent, and onboarding new employees.
Decide on 1-3 marketing tactics most important for your business and double down on those.
This includes developing a strategy for each tactic, writing content, scheduling social media posts, and sending email newsletters. Make sure to focus on the most important tactics first—you don’t want to spread yourself too thin by trying to do everything at once. As you work through your marketing to-do list, it’s important to be realistic about your available time. If your business is starting and you don’t have a full-time marketing person yet, it may be wise to focus on getting one or two things done each week so that you can make sure they’re done well.
Client acquisition strategy and client retention strategy.
The client acquisition strategy is how you plan to bring in new clients and customers. On the other hand, the client retention strategy is how you’ll keep them coming back. These two strategies are often related—if you have a great retention strategy, it can also help with client acquisition. For example, if you offer a free trial or consultation with your products or services, people will know what they’re getting before they pay anything. Your retention strategy should include automated emails or follow-ups with your customers. You want to make sure that you’re reaching out to them and letting them know how much you appreciate their business.
Needed Resources.
One of the biggest challenges for a small business owner is managing the different resources involved in running your company. We all have to wear many hats, and sometimes it’s hard to keep up with everything that needs to be done when you’re also trying to focus on your customers. It would be best if you had people who can help support you with this—whether an administrative assistant or someone in your office who helps with day-to-day tasks. There are also systems you can put in place to manage your resources. You may want to consider hiring an accountant or bookkeeper or even just setting up software on your computer so that you can track everything yourself.
Create a financial plan with revenue goals and expenses budget.
The first thing you need to do is understand your business’s financials. This means tracking all of the money coming in from every source and how much money goes out for each expense. You should also look at your cash flow and figure out how long it takes to get paid by clients. Once you grasp your financials well, you can start planning to improve them. This might mean offering discounts to clients who pay upfront. It could also mean setting up a payment plan so that they only have to pay you in installments.
Resource: Write Your Own Business Plan – A business plan can give you direction, something to aim towards throughout the year. If you already have a well-thought-out business plan, then the new year is a perfect time to update it with your new goals for the new year! If you are thinking about starting out on a new endeavor, then figuring out a plan for your proposed business is a must.
You could also charge more for certain services while cutting costs elsewhere to make the difference. Once you grasp your financials well, you can start planning to improve them. This might mean offering discounts to clients who pay upfront or setting up a payment plan so that they only have to pay you in installments. You could also charge more for certain services while cutting costs elsewhere to make the difference.
Business Planning Can Prevent Pitfalls
Nowadays, it is evident that a well-designed business plan helps prevent some common pitfalls and enables the business owner to focus on the most important issues in their business. Planning also provides a valuable framework for evaluating the effectiveness of your actions and making course corrections as needed. Without one, entrepreneurs are often left wondering if they are doing things right or not.
Schedule a free consultation with me, and let’s make 2023 your best year yet! I will take a look under the hood, assess where you are now, and create actionable steps that you can execute immediately.
So What Did We Learn:
- What is revenue stream strategy and why it’s important
- The perks of defining & re-defining your ICA
- Identify your top 5 priorities in your business
- The importance of milestones and goals
- Top 3 marketing tactics to move the needle
- Strategies: Client Acquisition & Retention
- Resources 101
Jumpstart 2023: Schedule a free consultation with me, and let’s make 2023 your best year yet! I will take a look under the hood, assess where you are now, and create actional steps that you can execute immediately.
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