Listen. The recession understandably has gotten many people up in arms. The majority of individuals have been caught off guard by the dynamics of the situation. Many have been left confused and unclear as to where to turn. There is unconstructive and even destructive behavior all around us. The problem. Desperation. When you don’t know where to go next your life becomes a series of frustrating and spontaneous “next moves” of decisions that are not thought out, which causes you to find yourself in places you didn’t want to be. The solution: Get yourself a 90-Day Action Plan.

Sure, with the economy the way it is, your vision for the future may be slightly bleaker than it was before. Maybe you’ve lost your job, your home, your money, and a number of other things. But a 90-Day Action Plan will keep you focused on the future (e.g. what’s to come) even when the present is not so great. An action plan keeps you clear on your goals and aspirations and helps you make changes that need to be made, and rely on the strengths God gave you.

You can lose anything material, but if you have a tool, even one as simple as a plan, you don’t lose your passion, wherewithal, commitment and vision, things that are worth a million times more than whatever you may have lost. The ability to maintain your vision is an incredible resource and setting a plan of action to move towards that vision even in the most troubling times is an asset that many don’t have. Let’s take one of the examples above and see just how the art of planning can help you overcome the distractions of a recession.

Problem: Loss of a job. The initial response here is panic. Oh my God, what will I do? But let’s try planning instead.

1. Get a clear vision of what you want. Vision Examples: Get a better job making more money. Start my own business. You get the point.

2. Set your SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time Oriented) Goal.
Example: In the next 3 months I will develop concrete strategies for starting my own business.

3. Consider Your Strengths: Hard worker, Great communicator, Know people, Leader (whatever they may be) Note: This is an important piece of your action planning because you need to understand your assets and what you can rely on. Sure it may be hard out there, but consider your assets and how they can help you get ahead.

4. Establish Your Action Steps: Here’s where your planning takes form. I always say your plan is only as good as your ability to implement it. Action equals implementation. It’s not enough to have a vision and a goal. You must set a plan of action so that you can accomplish your goals.

Here are some possible action steps for the example above. Action Steps: Research the industry of the business I want to start. Write a business plan. Consider funding resources. Find a mentor. Seek guidance via appropriate business resources, e.g. business consultant, SBA, etc.

Now, do you think that’s enough to keep you busy for the next three months? You betcha.

So instead of being frustrated by the tons of resumes you’re sending out and the double rejections you may be getting, you still have a vision and a plan and are moving forward on your goals. And remember what we did here is give you an example. Maybe another goal is to get temporary employment, which may mean you have to update or redo your resume, work with an image consultant, take some classes, or learn some new skills.

Whatever the goal, whatever the strategy, it’s yours, but at the end of the day, an action plan keeps you moving forward, it keeps your vision alive and allows you to continue to make progress.

Each business or organization would have a vision for the future, and to guide them towards achieving those goals they could create strategy diagram for this purpose. Having a plan on how to reach a business’ long term goals serves as a focusing instrument for the actions and decision to be taken for the future.

Strategy maps are useful instruments in determining actions and their effects towards reaching the vision of an organization or company. They are visual representations, illustrations of objectives of the organization and the means they will use to achieve them. There are many uses for strategy maps, from planning the financial goals to encouraging creativity and innovation.

Words, images, shapes, and connective lines or arrows are used to create strategy diagram. It takes abstract concepts and processes and makes them easier to understand. Not all connections of various actions are immediately seen on text. However once it is plotted out in an illustration it becomes more obvious. Certain goals could have more than one method used towards achieving it, and a strategy map could represent a goal connected to all its possible means and effects. In a word, strategy maps simplify.

Clear and organized strategy maps are very helpful in presenting an organization or business strategy in a straightforward and understandable manner. Strategy maps could be applied to the entire venture or it can be used for individual departments. Besides organization and purpose, a strategy map could also provide a creative outlet. It is vital that when a company creates its strategy map participation from all major units are included. This gives a sense of inclusion and makes employees feel more involved and invested in the goals of their organization.

To create strategy diagram that is clear and concise, the goals of the company or organization must be well-defined. There should be a clear decision as to where the business wants to go. Once the goals are set and defined, the methods to reach them must be formulated. The methods themselves have to clear and implementable. The strategy map should represent a viable and reasonable plan of actions. The main contents of a strategy diagram are goals, methods, and effects. All of those should be present in the content of a company’s strategy map. Other factors like the actors involved or contingency actions could also be included. However, it is important to keep the content concise so that the map is less confusing but still contains all the salient information required.

There are abundant strategy map software available for purchase or download online to help create strategy diagram for a company. The first step to create strategy diagram for a business is to choose a template. The style and format of the template is just as important as its content. It should be easy to understand and well-organized. The purpose of strategy maps is to provide a simple and easily intelligible visual representation of the organization’s strategy. It would not be as effective if it is not clear or comprehensive. Once a template is chosen, the thing left to do is to fill in the relevant information and a strategy map is ready for reference.

Strategy maps are very beneficial to companies or organizations. It keeps everyone focused on the vision of the business and presents the means towards achieving them in a concise, organized, and easily understandable manner.

Focus groups are useful in generating new product ideas or evaluating of new product concepts in very early stages of development before a great deal of time, effort, and money are expended. Some industries leap ahead by preparing a prototype, which is then evaluated by a focus group.

In addition, focus groups also evaluate existing products to assess quality, whether all the features are necessary or if others ones are needed. Much information can be garnered by employing focus groups, as long as management realizes that information is based on small, non-probability samples that can limit the ability to generalize the results to an entire target market.

In general, what can be garnered in one session are: users’ attitudes, beliefs, desires, and reactions. This market research data can then be integrated with the goals of the organization.

The group consists of:

•The moderator (sometimes called the group leader or instructor): who guides, prompts, nudges, and stimulates discussion and elicit reactions from the participants.

•The participants: generally 8 to 12 past, present, or prospective clients, customers, and others interested users paid to give their opinions about a service, product, or some entity that needs to be evaluated.

Materials Needed.

• Index cards and markers for making nametags for focus group participants.

• A table and enough chairs for the moderator, recorder, and focus group members.

• A seating chart for the moderator.

Main presentation of the item to be evaluated:

1. Decide what you want to learn. For example: Let’s assume that a commercial bank is about replace and install newer ATMs and they want to make sure that the screen colors are appealing.
2. Write a script for the moderator to follow (use bullet points and questions, both annotated as to the time allotted for each).
3. Management either hires a skilled moderator or appoints an articulate individual within the organization to rehearse and follow closely the bullet points in the script.
4. Tape the sessions and have one or more people take good notes.
5. When possible, in addition to the prototype, use visual aids such a graphics and charts, slide shows, or videos.

Action and Interaction:

When all the participants have been seated, the leader welcomes the focus group by thanking them for agreeing to participate in this activity. Tell the participants that they will be asked to give their opinions on the colors only.

Tell the focus group that the only rules are (1) no opinion or idea expressed is judged foolish or even outlandish, and (2) all participants in the group will have a chance to share their opinions.

Re-emphasize that no idea is “off the wall.”

Pre-closing activities:

The moderator asks selected individuals if they are satisfied with the interaction among themselves. Often some members may volunteer information that might have been overlooked during the course of the session. An experienced moderator will keep the session lively and flowing, by stepping in with pointed questions.

“That is a fantastic point you just made! Can you expand a bit more?”

“What makes the screen gaudy? Is it the pink, the red, or the blue?”

If interaction is poor, the value of the conclusions drawn from the focus group may be questionable.

Closing the session

Thank the focus group participants for their contribution. Give praise with general remarks such as: “You were just wonderful. Two or three of you kept this thing jumping, and I thank you for that. I loved your input! The moment you see the screens and the colors you helped us choose, you’ll feel proud that you pointed our bank in the right direction.”

Conclusion

Focus groups (sometimes called study groups or research groups) are useful not only in large businesses and in small businesses, but also in the professional occupations, too. The pastor of a church may use them to evaluate his sermons; a comedian can have his performance evaluated; politicians, accountants, and others as well.

Where does time go? What seems like just yesterday you were planning this year’s goals and now it is 6 months or heaven’s forbid 2 years later!

Looking to the future is many times difficult because we are so focused on the past and the present. Recently when speaking to both local leaders here in Northwest Indiana as well as nationally, I surveyed them as to the challenges that they see down the road the next one to 10 years. As someone whose business consulting and sales coaching practice is very much about determining future trends as part of the strategic planning process to help my clients secure their competitive advantage, I see these 3 critical issues facing all organizations from the smallest to the largest.

#1 Critical Business Trend is Succession Leadership. With the forthcoming retirement of the 65 million baby boomers, finding leaders and then developing those individuals in any organization will be as Ford Motor has stated: “Job #1.” No longer will businesses steal human capital talent from their competitors because there will be none to steal. Everyone will be in the same boat. The announcement by Steve Jobs of Apple to step away for 6 months is a perfect illustration of the importance of succession leadership with the strategic plan. (The stock declined 10% within hours of his announcement.)

#2 Critical Business Trend is Strategic Planning. No longer will organizations adopt the role of Captain Wing It who is flying Sky High Airlines 135 heading for sunny Bermuda or is it flight number 351 en route to the Bahamas? The key resources of time, people, money and energy will continue to become even more valuable. Miss-directed actions that cost resources will land companies in the hole of No-Return. The 21st century is knowledge driven and how to leverage that knowledge through critical thinking skills.

#3 Critical Business Trend is Human Capital Talent Development. The greatest resource of any organization is its people and it is the most under-utilized. Each employee has incredible potential that is dormant just waiting for the right person to let the “genie out of the bottle.” Current productivity research suggests between 20-25% of all employees are actively engaged on the job, meaning that they are giving at least the required productivity for every dollar received in compensation. This data suggests there is a lot of untapped performance (75-80%) just sitting along the sidelines not delivering a positive return on the investment. Strategic planning must address this wasted resource.

Take Action Strategic Planning Coaching Tip: Review these 3 issues and determine if they are important today or will be important tomorrow. Establish goals with your strategic plan to ensure that your actions will secure you a competitive advantage.

Pioneering your own business can be an extremely difficult way to generate an income. Entrepreneurs need to have a high tolerance for uncertainty. To be successful, you need to have the drive to succeed and the perseverance to overcome failure. Business owners constantly face the stress of making important decisions that affect their own business and very often the businesses of their customers.

Despite all this hard work, running your own business can be an immensely rewarding experience. Being your own boss gives you independence and the potential to earn an uncapped income. It provides you with greater flexibility for exercising your passions and talents.

It does not matter whether you are a young start-up business or a mature enterprise, discovering the right business opportunities is a vital aspect to your business success. Start-up businesses require an initial business idea which serves as the foundation of their market offering. Mature businesses are faced with the challenge of sourcing new opportunities to stay competitive in a cut-throat business environment. To succeed your business needs to be constantly evolving.

Discovering a profitable business opportunity is more complex than simply just stumbling upon a good idea. Your success will depend on your ability to transform the idea into an income by delivering marketable products or services. You will need to overcome challenges and adversity. You need to be prepared to deal with the unexpected.

The following 10 tips can help you succeed:

1. Conduct research to uncover evidence of a feasible target market. If there is no target market for your business idea, no one will buy your product or service. Conversely, if you under estimate the size of your target market, you may miss out on important opportunities.

2. Your business idea must satisfy a need within the target market. It must do this at a price that the target customer is willing to pay. You need to be customer focused and you must be able to answer the question, “what is in it for the customer?”

3. You need to perform a thorough analysis of the business environment to expose potential threats and opportunities for your business. You need to evaluate economic, legal, cultural, political and technological factors that can impact your business. Companies may not have control over the external environment but they can construct contingency plans to deal with the impact the environment on the business.

4. Competitor analysis must be performed. A new business will struggle in a market that is already saturated with competition and product substitutes. You need to build a unique selling position that motivates your target market to buy from you, instead of your competitors.

5. Once you have analyzed your target market, competitors and business environment. You need to put a strategy in place to ensure success.  You must be able to generate the financial resources needed to support this strategy.

6. The business opportunity must fit in with your skills, experience and personality type. There is little hope of success if you do not have the appropriate expertise.

7. The business idea needs to inspire your confidence and passion. This helps you develop the inner strength needed to persist through uncertainty and adversity.

8. You need to evaluate whether the business opportunity can generate enough income to support your needs. There is no value in investing your time and energy into a venture that is not going to deliver enough monetary rewards to fulfill your financial obligations.

9. You need a dependable supply chain. A constant and stable stream of supply is needed to maximise sales. If you cannot supply a product your customers will go to your competition.

10. Ensure that you have a support network. Other organisations can help you manage your new venture. Their experience and unbiased point of view can be an invaluable resource.