Make plans to survive, grow, innovate and succeed in 2010.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the UK emerged from recession during the last quarter of 2009. And now it’s the New Year, a time to look forward and make plans for the future. So why not ask: What plans can you make today to turn 2010 into a more innovative and successful year?
Plan for different futures
In response to uncertain times some businesses are planning for several different futures.
Plan for the worst case scenario, accounting for factors such as slow sales and restrictive cash flow. Then ponder optimistic plans for growth; this year might offer opportunities to grow faster than anticipated. Also plan for the middle ground – for sustained, steady growth.
Thinking about and anticipating different futures helps to cope with downturns or seize upon opportunities for growth. In either scenario you might, for example, need to secure finance or adjust employee capacity. So planning ahead, even tentatively, could prove useful if or when a particular future arrives.
Review your business environment, from your market size and potential to your customer base and competitive position. Such factors could present opportunities for the year ahead. For example, there may be pent-up demand resulting from the recession, or one of your competitors could be struggling.
Working through different scenarios, and reviewing your business environment, could also help to answer important questions. How are your finances? What are your key strengths and weaknesses? For the year ahead, what are your key opportunities and threats, and ultimately, what are your objectives?
To get started try our ten-minute business plan to quickly plan for best, worst and mid-case scenarios.
Plan for an innovative year
With business plans fresh in mind, and a new year ahead, why not create an innovation plan for 2010?
There are numerous ways to innovate. Often innovation comes from a desire to solve a problem. On a strategic level this could mean working to remove threats identified in your business plan. Beyond this, look for problems faced by customers, or problems in the back-end of your business. The desire to simplify is another great motivator; could you simplify customer or back end processes to make things more effective and efficient? A further innovation opportunity linked with planning is differentiation; have your plans identified specific opportunities to stand above the competition? Innovation is also closely linked to customer need; can you identify customer needs which are ill-served or unmet, and change your products or services to fit them? Or perhaps create entirely new offerings?
Innovation is about more than planning, but research shows that companies which set out an innovation plan tend to innovate more effectively than those that don’t. You can learn about this research and find tips on generating and pursuing innovative ideas by reading our business i innovation series.
You can also get inspired by our 100 South West Business Challengers campaign, which highlights small businesses that are doing something different to be successful. The campaign started this month and lasts for 100 working days, featuring 100 South West businesses that are outthinking and outperforming their competitors in new and exciting ways.
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