Mountain Goats in a China Shop | Stewart McKelvey

Written by Trevor MacDonald and Kyle DeYoung

The symbol of financial success on Wall Street is the bull.? It symbolizes power and strength; an intimidating type of power that may not be useful in every situation.? Rather than a stampeding bull, many successful business owners emulate the humble mountain goat.

Successful entrepreneurs have to surmount great odds to succeed, regardless of their industry. They don?t bulldoze or flatten problems and hope for the best; they diligently plan, navigate, and avoid obstacles on their route.? Strategic planning is central to this success.? As good carpenters say, the key to success is to ?measure twice and cut once?. An emphasis on strategic planning for entrepreneurs yields the same positive results.

Why don?t small business owners create strategic plans?? How can you make it happen?

Entrepreneurs and small business owners face a number of barriers that prevent them from executing solid strategic plans.? Cost, time constraints, little knowledge of the benefits, and fear and a lack of understanding of the process can prevent planning from happening.

1.? Cost.? There are monetary and non-monetary costs with strategic planning exercises.? It is expensive to have employees or consultants devoted to managing strategic planning; to have employees use valuable time to participate in strategic planning outside of their regular duties; and to have added costs for retreats, events, and other supplies.? In addition, many owners see strategic planning as valuable time away from their core operations.

Most of the costs from a strategic planning exercise are not easy to calculate; the benefits can be hard to quantify and often intangible.? A 2001 study of small businesses that had average revenues of $425,000/year compared 152 recently bankrupt businesses with 152 going concerns[1].? Unsurprisingly, successful businesses were more likely to employ a higher level of planning.? Most owners put all of their energy and resources into their businesses, but the cost of losing the business must be greater than the cost of any planning exercise.

There are a number of methods that owners can employ to keep the costs down:

• Keep it simple.? The process doesn?t have to be lavish, incredibly long, or overly involved.? Focus on what the business needs and stick to it.
• Use resources efficiently.? If the business is writing applications for financing or government funding, or planning a smaller project or initiative, expand this work to a full strategic planning process to save time and money.
• Use university students. ?The Atlantic Provinces have a number of great universities with undergraduate and graduate business students.? Many schools have programs where students work directly with businesses and research and create plans and reports for free. ?And who knows, maybe one of the students will be the next star hire for the business.

2.? Time Constraints. ?Business owners never have enough hours in the day. ?This is especially true of owners who manage their own businesses.? They wear many hats, and are loathe to assume the role of ?strategic planning coordinator?.? Who has the time for that?? Many business owners fail to realize that they are already strategic planning on a regular basis, but doing it from the seat of their pants.? They?re planning production for 18 months out, designing products for launch a year down the road, and pursuing opportunities in emerging markets.? This forward outlook is great, but without a coordinated and planned strategy, owners could be missing opportunities or wasting valuable time.? Valuable time that could be used for strategic planning.

3.? Understanding and Knowledge.? Many small business owners don?t understand the benefits of strategic planning, or don?t give the benefits enough weight.? Many don?t understand the process and can be intimidated by the management jargon and theories.? It can be daunting, but education is important in life and equally as important in a business.? Taking a Saturday morning to search the web, or an afternoon to review a business book could do wonders.

4.? Fear.? People dislike change and many of us avoid conflict or uncertainty. ?Lifting the hood and putting a harsh light on the innards of a business could uncover uncomfortable realities that owners are not ready to face.? Many individuals avoid preventative health screenings for the same reasons; but finding a business?s weaknesses early will make the treatment easier.

The lowly mountain goat will never get as much attention as the fiery, stampeding bull.? But, the success of a business isn?t about attention or brashness; it?s about understanding the environment and having the deftness to respond to a business?s challenges.? A solid strategic plan provides this edge.

Source: http://stewartmckelveyblogs.com/OMB/mountain-goats-in-a-china-shop/

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