Strategic planning should be an integral part of your business plan, your business strategy, sales strategies and marketing strategies. Without planning we don’t know where we need to go (or even where we were). We may have thought we were getting results and succeeding our goals. But without a plan you won’t know for certain. I’m sure that sounds pretty obvious. And it is, the biggest thing though is a lot of companies (especially small businesses), start the process, but never finish. Or they get the plan but fail to execute.

Strategic Planning for 2023

When it comes to your strategic plan, it doesn’t start with the how or the why. It starts with the what. It starts with understanding what you hope to achieve in 2023. What you need to do. What you fell short of in 2022. What you need. What should be your word for 2023. Once you know the whats of your business, you can then focus on the when, where, why and how. 

The what should be the foundation of all your efforts and all your efforts should be aligned to your what. But before you can get here we have to focus on the what of this year. Start with 2022. Here are some questions to ask: 

• What were our goals for 2022? 
• What did we do align with our goals? 
• What did we fail to do in 2022? 
• What could we have done differently? 

Once you’ve answered these questions, you are set to start focusing on what for 2023.

What Do We Want to Achieve in 2023

Now that you know the whats of 2022, you want to focus on the what for 2023. 

• What Do You Want to Achieve in 2023? 
• What Do We Need More of in Our Business? 
• What Are We Focusing Our Efforts on in 2023? 

Sure you can say you want more money, you want more clients, you want more sales, isn’t that what all businesses want? Being precise and specific in your want makes it more tangible to achieve. We want to increase our revenues by 25% over 2022. We want to bring on 5 new clients in each month or each quarter. We want to increase our division level sales by 33% in the first half of the year. 

The most important part of your strategy for 2023 is creating a Strategic Plan Document. This is similar to your business plan, but it focuses specifically on the achievements and goals for this year. This should be your guide for every decision you make. If it doesn’t align with what is in your Strategic Plan, it shouldn’t be part of your execution. And if your business makes a shift and it should be part of your Strategic Plan, you add it to your document. 

What Do We Need More of in Our Business

This isn’t what you want to achieve or the goals of your business in 2023, this is the resources, tools, training, assets, employees, contractors, etc that you need to be looking into adding into your business to ensure you are able to achieve your goals and execute your Strategic Plan. 

Sometimes we don’t have the necessary resources to achieve our goals, this is why we fall short. And sometimes those resources are internal, especially if you’re a solopreneur, small business or start up. What do I mean by internal resources? Those are the things that you bring to your business, your skill set, your mindset, your finances, your dedication and determination to succeed. You will need to make sure that you have all the right resources to achieve the success as identified in your 2023. 

As a small business owner you will need to take inventory of what you lacked and then implement a plan (in the strategic plan document of course) to cover those shortcomings in 2023. Your business growth is directly tied to your personal growth when you’re operating a small business. 

What Are We Focusing Our Efforts On in 2023? 

This comes down to the marketing and sales strategies. You have to know where you are putting your efforts, your time and your money into achieving these goals. There is a sales and marketing plan that aligns with your strategic plan. This executable plan is the steps that make up the strategic execution. 

Will you spend your resources on social media, content marketing, PPC, sales funnels, sales team, SEO, training, or other marketing strategies? Will you outsource, do it yourself, bring it in house? All of these are things that are to be considered, outlined and planned. 

The creation process of your marketing and sales strategies takes into consideration: 

• Your audience
• Where to find your audience
• What message your audience needs to hear
• How much you are going to spend in each space
• If you will do it yourself, outsource, or hire someone
• What resources you need 

And this should be identified, outlined and included in your strategy planning. Creation of your 2023 Strategic Plan should be completed prior to the new year. If you haven’t started already, dive in with both feet and get it done. Hold some meetings with your teams, identify strengths and get buy-in from your team. 

As you identify these elements, then you can move into the Strategic Planning process. We’ve created a strategic planning guide to help you identify your key components, goals, and planning. Get your copy today.