Thinking about the future of your business today is far different from 10 or 15 years ago.
In those days, a good Business Plan supported by adequate funding had a fair chance of success and once you had survived the first 3-5 years all you had to do was to keep improving your systems and look out for new opportunities of expansion.
If you were a successful CEO or top manager you could change jobs with little risk because by applying the same solid management systems you had a fair chance of making the same impact.
Today this paradigm has completely changed!
Thinking about the future of your business is a difficult challenge because the only certainty you can have is that the future is uncertain.
Even if you are doing well, there are no guarantees that the situation will not change overnight because there are too many variables at play and the speed of change has been increasing exponentially.
So what can you do?
1. Embrace the fact that there are too many things you can’t control.
2. Acknowledge the fact that you can’t keep on doing the same things and expecting a different result.
3. Take a personal inventory:
Where exactly you stand?
What are your core strengths?
What are your business strengths?
What challenges are you and your business facing?
Where do you want do go?
What do you need in terms of competences, tools and financing to get there?
4. Draw an action plan – include your staff and stakeholders in the process but remember that the responsibility for the decision is YOURS and only yours.
5. Divide the plan in steps and find metrics to help keeping you on track.
6. Start today and make sure everyone understands their role and is commited to the vision and the end result.
7. Adjust and revise constantly!
An aircraft is the safest and quickest way to travel and the most linear in terms of route… and yet about 90% of the time is off the intended flight path!
Course correct constantly, keep your eyes on the dashboard and your mind and your heart on the destination!
