Start your financial year with a plan that doesn’t just sit on the shelf or gather digital dust! A well-crafted strategic plan should be more than a document; it should actively guide decisions, behaviours, and investments across your organisation so it’s part of the very fabric of your organisation.
In today’s fast-paced global marketplace, strategic planning isn’t just a ‘tick the box’ exercise: it’s essential to profitable, sustainable growth. Here are our 5 simple tips to get you started:
1. Start by Defining Your Positioning. It pays to be clear on what you stand for, and what you don’t. By ensuring you have a strong understanding of your market, business and customers, identifying your biggest sources of growth (and profit), and tapping into global and local trends, you can establish a compelling, differentiated offering to maximise consumer appeal.
Once you’ve defined or reaffirmed your organisation’s purpose and clearly articulated the value you provide to your customers, it’s crucial to communicate this clearly within your business and to key stakeholders. With approx. 70% of strategies failing because they aren’t clearly communicated or understood, a plan to clearly engage and communicate with stakeholders is literally make-or—break. It will ensure clear alignment, build support, and generate momentum to drive your organisation forward.
2. Be Specific. By setting objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound) your plan will start delivering results before you know it. With so many analytics available it’s easier than ever to track the performance of your plans in market, allowing you to make tweaks and adjustments to sharpen them as you go. We also recommend taking time out from your day to day business on a regular basis to check on what’s working – and what’s not. By setting clear and actionable objectives up front & regularly monitoring performance throughout the year, you can adjust and tweak your plans and tactics to reflect your strategic focus. The result? Your plan will be more targeted, cost efficient and successful.
3. Ensure your plan is embedded in the business. The classic adage “structure follows strategy” is a powerful reminder that your organisational design, processes, and people must align with your core priorities. Begin by allocating your key resources of time, budget, and talent to support what matters most. Set clear, measurable goals and translate them into team-level actions and KPIs that create ownership and accountability. To truly embed your strategy, review how your financial planning, assets, and innovation pipeline support your agree business direction. Are you funding the right initiatives? Do your systems and workflows enable progress? Linking day-to-day operations with long-term goals gives your team clarity and motivation—and that momentum can be game-changing. It not only drives immediate focus but also positions your organisation for sustainable growth and future opportunities.
4. Bring your Plans to life for clients & stakeholders: Firstly consider how you can use ALL of your existing assets & branded properties (Owned Media) such as your store signage, packaging, client communications, website, database, social media, and employee advocacy to reach new people, tell a story or publicise an offer. Leverage any Earned Media including media coverage or publicity, references & recommendation, to build credibility, drive awareness of your offer and create connections. Factor in Bought Media where you’ll need to pay for advertising, brand or business exposure to drive business growth, set a budget and determine the most effective media channels to reach your new or potential customers. Investing in marketing is a must in bringing your positioning to life in market and building a strong, loyal customer base.
5. Write it Down. The simple clincher in business planning? Writing down your plan actually helps to make it happen! Management studies since the 1970s have consistently shown that people are 50-80% more likely to reach and exceed their financial and productivity goals when they’re written down.Why? Because you’ll be more committed to a plan that you’ve taken the time to get onto paper; it’s likely to be more clearly articulated or crafted; you will be better positioned to make decisions and allocate resources in line with your vision if it’s top of mind; and of course it will help to keep you focused on the bigger picture through everything that you do. One of the best examples we’ve seen is an organisation use their ‘plan on a page’ as the intro slide to every meeting and presentation, setting the context for where that discussion or initiative sits within the organisation’s strategy. In fact, we recommend putting your vision or goals somewhere where you’ll see them – on a pin board, as your screen saver, printed as a mouse pad, or framed with an inspiring image.
It’s often quoted that “a goal without a plan is just a wish” Antoine de Saint Exupery but with these simple tips you can establish a plan that will unlock growth and change your trajectory.
By taking the time to start your year with a plan that’s aligned, actionable, and integrated, you set a strong foundation for the months ahead. It’s a powerful way to bring focus, foster alignment, and unlock sustainable growth—ensuring your team is not just busy, but moving forward together with purpose.
Want some help? At BlueFish Strategic Planning, we work with organisations of all sizes, from corporate to NFP and government, who want a strategy that works. That achieves real results. Like selling out of stock, expanding the team, investing in new equipment or upsizing to a larger warehouse.
For support with your business, big or small get in touch today.
