Strategic Planning Software

Strategic Planning and the Family Business

Strategic planning software can help answer this question:

What is the Secret To A Successful Family Business?

The answer, of course, is Knowing and Understanding how the values of the family drive the strategic planning process for the family and the family business!

It is important to understand that strategic planning for a family business should be a two step process to accommodate what we call the "dualism dynamic".

Simply put, if a family business owner wants to be successful doing strategic planning for the family business, FIRST develop a strategic plan for the family. In other words, the strategic planning process for the family should be driving the strategic planning process for the family's business.

Strategic planning is a process for a business family to more clearly define the purpose of the business, define the goals and objectives of the business, and to determine the best strategy for implementation. Strategic planning software can be a useful tool to organize the planning process.

Major Benefits of Strategic Planning

Key Priorities - strategic planning will ensure the resources of the family business targets objectives that yield the highest return on the investment of people, time and money.

Building Consensus – strategic planning will help determine the best way to grow the company, increase profitability and to increase shareholder value.

Team Building – strategic planning provides a family business with a clearer focus that will enable management to become more efficient and more effective

Professionalizing the Management Style – strategic planning will help move the business from a “seat of the pants” family business to a better organized and a "smarter" run business.

Succession Management – strategic planning for the family and the business are the best strategies to increase the odds for a family business to successfully transition to the next generation of leadership and ownership.

Business Continuity – strategic planning provides a management template should the owner of the business die or become incapacitated. Having a strategic plan and a formal succession plan in place that has been approved by the family will ensure the family business will be better positioned to survive catastrophic events.

Strategic planning is a simple and straight forward success strategy for every family business. Strategic planning software is simple to use and affordable.

Unfortunately, for many family-owned businesses,“fighting fires” is how priorities are determined. But operating a business by “fighting fires” robs the business owner of the time and energy needed to take the business to a higher performance level – to reach the true potential of the business.

Your Business Future: Success or Failure?

98% of all businesses in the industrial world are small businesses (25 employees or less).

90% of all small businesses do not practice any form of strategic planning.

87% of small businesses fail every year.

(US Small Business Administration)

BOTTOM LINE - The lack of strategic planning is the main cause of small business failure.

The major reason family business owners do not engage in strategic planning is a lack of time to devote to planning.

Traditional strategic planning methodologies were designed for very large companies and are complex and time consuming.

There are a number of strategic planning software options available - we recommend that family business owners find one that suits the needs of their family business.