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5 Warning Signals Your Business Might Have A Cash Flow Problem
A key reason for business failure is poor cash management. If you don’t pay attention to your daily cash flow, you face extinction; yet so many business people loss site of their cash flow. No matter how fantastic your company’s products are, you...
It's Time To Get All Strategic - Small Business Marketing Stategy
Copyright 2005 J D Moore So what's your small business marketing strategy? I'm willing to bet that close to 85% of the people reading this are scratching their heads now. Many small business owners fail to create a marketing strategy at all,...
Meetings, Bloody Meetings
MEETINGS, BLOODY MEETINGS (reprinted from February 1998 issue of Channel Magazine) How do you keep your most talented employees, staff, board members, or association members focused and motivated in meetings, let alone motivating them to attend?...
Succeeding As A Seller On E-bay
Being successful is almost everyone's dreams this day and being
successful in E-Bay could be a reality once you set your heart
into it. Like in any other business, patience and perseverance
in the world of E-Bay are factors needed to ensure that...
SWOT Analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
When conducting strategic planning for any company - online and/or offline - it is useful to complete an analysis that takes into account not only your own business, but your competitor's businesses and the current business environment as well. A...
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READY, SET…WAIT?
READY, SET…WAIT?
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DECIDING AND DOING
”Five frogs are sitting on a log. Four decide to jump off. How many are left?
Answer: five.
Why? Because there's a difference between deciding and doing” Mark L. Feldman & Michael F. Spratt
You have done it. You have a plan. You've outlined priorities; you know what has to get done to reach the goal. You are at the “go” point when you start getting nervous.
Ok, so JUMP!
Sure, except… “Where am I going to find the time? What if I lose my staff? What if the plan fails? OR, WHAT IF THE PLAN TAKES OFF?”
Welcome to the critical place where many plans hit a crossroad. A plan - whether it’s on paper, or buried somewhere in your PC (or even the back of your mind) - may carefully identify strengths, capture a vision and detail the steps to make your dreams come true, but if you don’t act on it, it is destined to be just a record of what “might have been”.
None of the steps in the strategic planning process is as vital as that of taking a plan forward and making it work.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND STUCK
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward.” Amelia Earhart
When the goal is to swim in a new direction, the difference between success and ‘stuck’ likely involves change.
They tell us it takes 21 days to break an old habit, and 65 days to establish a new one! The basic truth is - change isn’t easy. We regularly travel nicely established paths formed by our habits. To forge new roads, our old habits need to be replaced. Unfortunately we get used to doing it one way for so long, it becomes comfortable. The transition period during any change initiative is usually uncomfortable – and it is hard to get out of a familiar, comfortable place.
Another reason that it is hard to change habits is that we forget to. You have to have reminders around during a transition period, or you probably won't remember.
The truth is that even the most self-determined, energetic, ‘take charge’ types of people who are good at getting things done, find it hard to change habits on their own.
Seeing the results of a change initiative can take time. It takes personal courage to get up each morning and say 'I am going to
do what I know it takes’. Keeping an eye on even the most compelling vision takes commitment.
Many businesses fail because they don’t implement the systems or enlist support to provide the necessary feedback to successfully manage change.
INCREASING THE ODDS
If follow-through is the hard part for you or your team, acknowledge it, and build in a safety net!
An unbiased business partner or coach can make it possible to help you put the discipline in place that will make change possible. While most of us can benefit from an objective opinion and another point of view, one of the most beneficial roles of a coach is to serve as a reminder of what YOU KNOW you need to do.
A competent, compatible business partner can be an advocate, encouraging you to sustain the right mindset, help you figure out how to overcome obstacles, and hold you accountable to achieving what you desire.
EVALUATION, FLEXIBILITY and MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
Evaluation is the process of measuring success. If your strategic plan is well-conceived, it will be invaluable for measuring success. Part of a good planning process includes deciding up front what you want to see as a result, how you will measure success, who will evaluate it, and when.
No matter how much planning one does, unforeseen events will occur. Things will happen that may make it advisable for you to change one or more parts of your plan. Planning for flexibility is important. When you are confronted with such a change in circumstances, you'll need to carefully review the plan to see if it still represents what you want, what you need, and how to get there.
READY, SET, GO
Where are you in the planning process? If you are ready to move forward but are having a bit of trouble taking the leap, enlist help!
The right support structure can assist you to jumpstart the process, evaluate progress, celebrate success, and if necessary revise the plan.
If you are serious about seeing your plans come to life, find a partner to assist and…
GO FOR IT!
Copyright 2005 by Helene Mazur--All Rights Reserved
About the Author
Helene Mazur is the President of Princeton Performance Dynamics. As a business coach and team facilitator Helene helps individuals and organizations look at their situation from new perspectives, strategize, focus, and take action to achieve goals that are important to them.
http://www.ppdbusinesscoaching.com
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| Strategic Planning (in nonprofit or for-profit organizations) |
| Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation. ... First, a Point About For-Profit and Nonprofit Strategic Planning ... |
| www.managementhelp.org |
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| Basic Description of Strategic Planning (including key terms to know) |
| Adapted from the Field Guide to Nonprofit Strategic Planning and Facilitation. ... Strategic planning often includes use of several key terms. ... |
| www.managementhelp.org |
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| Strategic Planning, Strategic Plan, Business Strategy, Strategic ... |
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| Strategic Planning |
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| Frequently Asked Questions |
| Strategic Planning · Fundraising · Financial Management · Risk Management · Credit Card Acceptance. The FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) listed on this ... |
| www.allianceonline.org |
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| Strategic planning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| Strategic planning involves defining objectives and developing ... Strategic planning uses "the big picture" to pursue large scale, long term objectives. ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| 08/26/96 STRATEGIC PLANNING |
| You guessed it: strategic planning. Suddenly, the idea of rising above the ... But if strategic planning is back with a vengeance, it's also back with a ... |
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| Dr. Strategy - Dr. Pete Johnson, Keynote Speaker, Marketing ... |
| StrategicPlanning.com “Turning Change Into A Competitive Advantage”. Dr. Pete's Preview Video Click Here. Take-Away Value Sample Program Handouts ... |
| strategicplanning.com |
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| Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation |
| Strategic Planning Society: Strategy Development and Implementation. |
| www.sps.org.uk |
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| Guide 7 |
| Strategic Planning in Smaller Nonprofit Organizations ... In short, as a result of a strategic planning process, an organization will have a clearer idea of ... |
| www.wmich.edu |
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| STRATEGIC PLANNING MANUAL |
| File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML |
| Your browser may not have a PDF reader available. Google recommends visiting our text version of this document. |
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| BPubs.com: Strategic Planning & Business Planning Articles |
| Business Publications related to Corporate Strategic Planning. |
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| Strategic Planning Tools |
| Strategic Planning is a method for positioning an organization to take ... A strategic planning process incorporates an in-depth planning model that takes ... |
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| Center for Simplified Strategic Planning, Inc. |
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| LEADERSHIP: Strategic Planning and Strategic Management |
| Introduction: Is strategic planning really worth it? ... The purpose of strategic planning is to encourage thinking about your organization's "big ... |
| vskn.ca |
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| The CEO Refresher Archives - Strategic Planning |
| When done right, the integrated strategic planning process can take a ... Strategic Planning and Project Management: The Key to Successful Implementation ... |
| www.refresher.com |
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| HEFCE : Publications : 2000 : 00/24 - Strategic planning in higher ... |
| This guide reviews good practice in strategic planning in higher education (HE). It originated in a consultation exercise which we held in 1998 to review ... |
| www.hefce.ac.uk |
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| The Association for Strategic Planning |
| The Association for Strategic Planning (ASP), is a non-profit professional society whose mission is to enable people and organizations to succeed through ... |
| www.strategyplus.org |
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| Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A ... |
| Amazon.com: Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations: A Practical Guide and Workbook: Books: Michael Allison,Jude Kaye by Michael Allison,Jude Kaye. |
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| Amazon.com: Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for ... |
| Amazon.com: Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-Nonsense Guide for Busy People Who Want Results Fast!: Books: Robert W. Bradford,Robert W. Bradford,J. Peter ... |
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