How to make a Mission Statement

How to make a Vision Statement

How to write a Values Statement

How to perform a SWOT Analysis

MyStrategicPlan offers its services at a reasonable price point as indicated on their website. Navigating through the web pages, I found the features useful to new entrepreneurs as well as those who have an established web presence. It is surprising how the market has not capitalized on strategic planning tools, which essentially is the backbone of any business. If you have ever asked yourself three questions, “where is my organization now?”, “Where do I want to take it?” and “How will I get there?” then this tool will definitely prove to be a viable solution to your queries.

Head over to StartupBooster here to read the entire review. Thanks Jey and the rest of the team!

It’s never too early to learn how to start your own business. A book
called “Strategic Planning for Dummies” is out and the author was in
Reno today, signing books at Barnes and Noble. Money from the book
sales go to an entrepreneurship program that helps high school girls
how to create their own businesses.

“We thought it would be a great
opportunity to give back to the program and help the girls in our
community open their business through our contributions and books
sales,” author Erica Olsen said.
“Helping your business and helping
the girls start their own business,” Frances Brown of the Girl Scouts
of the Sierra Nevada said.

If you buy the book in January, that money will go to the program, which by the way is grand-funded.

Erica Olsen’s strategic planning savvy led to authoring a book under the famous Dummies brand.

Story by: Linda Fine
Photography by Alicia Santistevan
The Business Report of Northern Nevada
http://www.nevadabusinessreport.com/stories/html/2006/11/27/190.php

While not a household phrase to be sure,
strategic planning is certainly an important concept in the world of
business, and one woefully neglected by most entrepreneurs.

“You
wouldn’t go on a trip without a plan,” says management consultant and
author Erica Olsen. “Nor should business owners run a business without
a plan. It’s unthinkable.” Such is the essence of Olsen’s new book,
“Strategic Planning for Dummies,” a book inspired by her work as a
partner in M3 Planning.

To be sure, most businesses have a plan —
but it’s in the heads of the company’s key personnel. “Strategic
planning makes our business activities more intentional so employees
can help you move the business forward,” Olsen says. Fundamentally,
people think it’s hard and that it takes too much time.

According
to Olsen, a long-time Reno resident, a strategic plan should cut to the
chase, unlike the more familiar business plan often prepared solely for
banks or investors. A good plan answers the what, when, why, where and
how questions, serving as a road map to achieve a specific vision.

Olsen
holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nevada,
Reno, and a master’s degree from the Thunderbird Graduate School of
International Management. She’s frequently tapped to lecture at UNR and
the University of Phoenix in Reno on management and planning topics.

Local clientele 8

Her
company powers Web-based planning systems that help organizations
develop and manage their strategic plans. Clients include the Economic
Development Authority of Western Nevada, Girl Scouts of America, Erlach
Computer Consulting and Washoe County.

Olsen says EDAWN is a good example of an organization with a vision and the tenacity to stick to it.

“Our
relationship with Erica and her company began about two years ago,”
says Gail Conkey, EDAWN’s director of operations. At the outset, Conkey
says, Olsen created a strategy map revealing the initiatives and
tactics needed to clarify ongoing projects. “It started with people and
ended with our core mission. People are a company’s most important
asset,” says Conkey. “Sometimes people are forgotten — you can never
forget the employees.”

Conkey heartily endorses Olsen’s
expertise. “Her ability to look holistically at our organization took
us to the next level in terms of achieving our goals.”

A speedy deadline 8

From
strategic planner to first-time author was a serendipitous path, Olsen
says. A chance meeting with another Dummies author led to a contract
with Wiley Publishing Co., the caveat being that the book needed to be
written in just one year. It was a speedy deadline for sure, Olsen
says, explaining that turnaround time for this type book generally is
much longer.

Nevertheless, the idea became reality; the paperback
is available for purchase at various local booksellers including Barnes
& Noble, Borders and Amazon.com for $21.99.

While the average
first printing is usually 5,000 books, 10,000 copies of “Strategic
Planning for Dummies” initially hit the bookshelves. In addition to a
$10,000 advance, Olsen gets 12 percent of each book sold.

“It’s a
lot of work for not a lot of money,” Olsen. “But it’s not about the
money; it’s about the recognition being a published author with a main
publishing house brings you.”

Olsen adds that her company
recently developed a Web-based strategic planning approach to support
the book — mystrategicplan.com. “The book works with the system. It’s
easier to put a plan together and execute it if you have technology
that supports it,” she says.

Anticipating her readers will
include business owners, managers, department heads and non-profit
organizations among others, Olsen says anyone who doesn’t have a
strategy department will benefit. “Having a strategic plan gets you
from A to B faster. It’s all about using the resources you have to be
more effective.”

The bottom line: Sales is responsible for delivering the company’s top line growth. While hitting the numbers is important, says Erica Olsen, Vice President of Marketing for M3 Planning and author of Strategic Planning for Dummies (slated for November publication), salespeople are often so busy working to deliver year-end goals that they’re left out of the strategic planning loop, either by choice or circumstance.

Sales leaders and their teams bring knowledge about client needs and wants to the table that can help keep the company from making costly missteps, Olsen suggests.  And, sales leaders can make sure future plans are in alignment with its department’s resources.

Sales Performance Journal asked Olsen, who has helped a wide range of clients craft and implement strategic plans, to explain. The edited exchange follows.

*****
Sales Performance Journal: You’re a huge proponent of strategic planning in general. Why is it so important?

Erica Olsen: Well, it’s only important if a company wants to grow. If a company wants to grow, they need a strategic plan. And if they’re forecasting growth, the sales organization really needs to be involved in the development of revenue goals, because sales is responsible for that top line growth.

In the boardroom, we toss out numbers–10, 20, 30 percent–but we may not think through the impact of the goal on sales or support.

There’s one organization I know of where sales was given a goal of 30 percent growth. The sales organization delivered. The rest of the operation couldn’t support it! The realistic goal on the manufacturing side of the house was only about three percent. So sales can’t fulfill contracts to retailers, sales gets incentives based on deliveries…the entire organization is a mess.

The sales were made, but revenue goals weren’t reached. It’s a case of left hand/right hand, of not really paying attention. Sales was successful but no one asked the tough question, “Can we deliver?”

SPJ: How can sales help avoid disasters like this one?

EO: They can help determine if a strategic plan is sound. They can use a Balanced Scorecard [a strategic planning system developed by Drs. Robert Kaplan and David Norton that examines organizations from four angles: learning and growth, business process, customer and financial perspectives] as a kind of “sniff test” to see if the strategy will work. They can ask: Do we have the people to support the operations? Are we delivering value to customers to meet financial goals? Do we have the right people in the right places in the operation to deliver what we’re selling to provide value to our customers?

Look at the strategy. Really get connected with the rest of the organization. Get strategic planning to a point where everyone can say confidently: yes the market is there, yes the organization is behind us to fulfill what we’re selling, and yes we have the right people in the right roles to get there [reach the revenue target]. It takes the unknown out of it. It’s much less “pie in the sky” when you ask those questions. These are the questions the Fortune 100 ask.

SPJ: So sales will help drive the profitability of the organization by doing more than just selling.

EO: If sales is at the table and engaged in a way they can make a difference, they’ll have a huge impact on their department and overall profitability. Sales has a ton of customer information. They have any number of customer touch points, whether the information is gathered in a formal manner or not. What are the trends? They can actually affect the product they’ll be selling next year with this information.

[For this to work,] sales must view [the strategic planning effort] as a benefit and not as wasted time. Sales will waste more time in the long run because they didn’t take that day [to attend planning sessions]. Sales leaders must review the numbers, ask the questions and make sure there is alignment.

Realizing the true role the sales force can play should be very exciting for anyone in a leadership role. The result is empowering. Looking at sales as strategic rather than tactical is ultimately empowering.

SPJ: And the results?

EO: Strategic planning works. [We’ve seen that] just getting people talking–even if the plan is ultimately faulty in some way–results in an average growth rate of 12 percent. Failure to plan is planning to fail.

COMPANY: M3 Planning
Business: On-Demand Strategic Planning Services
Headquarters: Reno, Nevada
Founded: 2000
Website: www.m3planning.com

INTERVIEW SUBJECT:

Name: Erica Olsen, MBA
Current Title: Vice President, Marketing
M3Planning: Strategic business planning, helping entrepreneurs to articulate and realize their visions.  Erica is a frequent academic lecturer and author of Strategic Planning for Dummies.

Sales Performance Journal contributor Stephanie Molnar is a business and sales writer based in Austin, Texas. Article questions or comments? Click here.

Erica Olsen, 32, owner of M3 Planning in Reno, and author of the soon to be released, Strategic Planning for Dummies, is a woman in business who is raising standards for businesses around the world.

“The upcoming launch of this book is really exciting,” said Olsen. “Finally there is a book on the market that is making strategic planning not only effective, but fun.”

“The Strategic Business Performance Study”, conducted by M3 Planning in 2005, reported businesses which use strategic planning profit more than 12 percent more annually than they would have otherwise. Erica’s ability to transform a typically dry, complicated topic to one that is clear, easy to understand, and expressed with energy and excitement is evident in her new book.

“Strategic Planning for Dummies is a quick reference book for small business owners hoping to expand,” said Olsen. “If executed correctly, the pay off can really make a difference for business owners.”

Strategic Planning for Dummies is now available for advanced purchase on-line at Amazon.com, and will be available in bookstores nationally November 1.

M3 Planning retains accounts with businesses locally, nationally, and internationally. National Women in Business Week begins Monday, October 16. For more information about Erica Olsen, her business, or her new book, visit www.m3planning.com.

Click here to listen.

Building on his background in Finance and Accounting, Olsen has been studying and teaching metric-driven marketing techniques throughout his career. Using data to make more accurate marketing decisions is a concept he has presented in his nine years of university teaching and consulting. Olsen holds a PHD in Marketing with an international emphasis from Old Dominion University, an MBA with a concentration in accounting from the University of Montana and a BS in Finance from the University of Nevada, Reno. He says that his education and experience in both the "hard" and "soft" sides of marketing have shaped his views. According to Olsen, what marketers and business people must do today is begin with data and established business processes.

Currently a partner in M3 Planning, a locally based strategic consulting firm, Olsen has been teaching these same principles to businesses with dramatic results. M3 Planning has developed several solutions for strategic planning and measurement, and as Olsen explains they each were inspired by the need for business owners to "grasp a hold of their companies’ direction."

Essentially, Olsen says that their clients’ success comes from meeting a need recognized by both businesses and marketers - the need to attach meaningful metrics to marketing tactics in order to plan, predict and measure the impact of their actions. "I sincerely hope that all marketers are in some way making this their focus," says Olsen, "because I believe that it is not only the future of business, but the key to survival." Olsen is available to speak on this topic at West Coast events.

To learn more about what we are all about, please visit us at www.MyStrategicPlan.com