Green Thumbs Cash In On Green Trend

The trusted business planning tool called the SWOT (for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) may be familiar enough, but are you using it to your strategic advantage?
Along with the internal assessments of your organization’s strength and
weaknesses, reviewing your strategic position also includes evaluating external opportunities and threats in the marketplace.

Consider G-Sky, a Vancouver, British Columbia, […]

How ’bout some reports to go with that scorecard?

For the past two years, a large manufacturing company has used a process whereby each department head turns in a one-page monthly summary linked to the comprehensive corporate strategy. The reports also explain how well the company’s progressing with the defined action plans, what obstacles exist, and what can be improved.
At a monthly meeting, the […]

Creating a strategy-focused organization

Organizations that are strategy-focused are more effective with their resources, have higher employee retention, and make more money because they serve their markets better than their counterparts. And they stay in business longer because they proactively respond to the environment around them. Want to create a culture that’s strategy-focused? Here’s a hit list of ideas […]

Partnering through franchising

Franchising is exploding in popularity as a way to grow your business potential very quickly. Franchising is a partnership of sorts between the two parties because they’re sharing assets for a mutually beneficial outcome. You can license your intellectual property to wanna-be business owners in exchange for their cash in the form of a franchise […]

Organize Your Plan

By now, we’re well on our way to making strategy a habit.
Once you’ve 1) gotten ready for the strategic planning process, 2) articulated
your mission and vision, 3) reviewed your strategic position, and 4) agreed on
your priorities, it’s time to organize
your plan.
You’ll recall that I previously recommended narrowing your
options down to a select few for […]

What can we learn from Toyota?

We’re all familiar with the Boy Scout motto of "Be Prepared", but have you considered applying this phrase in your professional life? The most successful companies out there know the value of preparation and the rest are taking a cue from the best.
A recent New York Times Magazine cover story chronicled the rise of Toyota […]

Articulating Your Mission and Vision

Earlier I
shared that successful strategic
planning is a continuous process – something that you need to make a habit.
Now, I’d like to also propose that the process isn’t linear but circular.
To that
end, let me begin at the requisite starting point – your mission statement. A
mission statement, we all know, is a statement of your company’s purpose […]

Inspired by success

In case you don’t think selling your business is likely or even possible, here are examples of some entrepreneurial companies who’ve sold their businesses (I hope you’re inspired by their success):
Catalytica Pharmaceuticals: A 1,700 employee, Mountain View, California-based pharmaceutical outsourcer that made the world’s supply of such drugs as AZT and Wellbutrin. The company was […]

Reaching the $1 Million Mark

At the end of the day, what is every business trying to
do? Grow. More customers, more sales, positive cash flow, larger deal sizes,
higher volume, more billable hours, justification for higher prices, etc. Ask
any hard-working entrepreneur what she is working on and you’re bound to hear a
comment related to growth. Why? Because if you’re not growing, […]

Having a strategy isn’t enough. Many of us know all too well that having a great strategy will never yield results if it is not properly executed. The following article by Scott Glatstein of the American Chronicle takes a look at some of the causes of a failed strategy.

Business Strategy Execution: 4 Reasons Why Your […]