How can we actual plan during a pandemic?
2021: Annual Strategic Planning During a Pandemic
As the year comes to a close and I start to plan for 2021, I have to acknowledge that the process feels a bit different during a pandemic. In attempting to work through my typical planning process, I am getting stuck on items that are out of my control.
2021 indeed calls for a shift in my historic approach to business planning. Perhaps more importantly than in any other year, planning for 2021 starts with the need to have clarity, confidence and calm to move our business forward with many factors outside of our influence.
What are the most important tools when approaching your 2021 business planning? I think this article by Dr. Anthony M. Criniti IV on Entreprenuer.com offers three vital and foundational tools.
YOUR ATTITUDE
Mindset of a successful entrepreneur
First, a successful entrepreneur operating in the pandemic needs to have a positive mindset. After watching thirty minutes of the news these days or standing in line for an hour at the supermarket just to buy milk it is amazingly easy to become negative about the “new norm.” It is up to the individual to fight this temptation and keep a positive mind. This brighter mental state leads to more clarity and focus on what needs to be done and what you can do about it. Creativity is found mostly in this state of mind, especially when applied to producing new products and services. (Criniti, 2020)
YOUR VISION
Future thinking
Second, a successful entrepreneur operating in the pandemic needs to be a visionary. The positive state of mind can open channels in the brain for clarity of the future. If you can see through all of the chaos that you are observing physically on a daily basis combined with the negative minefields found all over the internet, then you will find the place of truth. It is here that you can be more enlightened on which direction to focus or refocus your business. For example, if you knew what the next six months to a year would look like, with the right resources, you could build exponential wealth. (Criniti, 2020)
YOUR BELIEF IN YOURSELF
Risk assessment
Third, a successful entrepreneur operating in The Great Pandemic needs to have courage. Risk-taking is the foundational quality of an entrepreneur, especially in an environment where everything could be at stake. Only the courageous venture on their own to start a business. Only the bold reinvent a business when the traditional environment that made them successful has been completely altered. It is easy to say the words “risk-taker” when discussing the qualities of entrepreneurs, but it is another matter to comprehend the words “they can possibly lose everything they own if they fail.” If you step in the ring with a new business, be prepared to take many hard punches…it is not for the faint of heart. (Criniti, 2020)
Implementing these three tools isn’t easy or painless, and they will be tested throughout 2021. However, using the tools to maintain focus will provide you with the clarity, confidence and calm you need to develop strategies and action plans to guide your business through these difficult times.
The other approach is that we are going to shorten our focus. Although, we may still establish 1-, 3-, and 5-year goals, we are going to shorten our strategic planning to a quarterly. When it comes to developing strategies and action plans, we are taking it short term. Here’s how the Costron + Co. team will move through that process.
1. Look at historic results for the first quarter of the year for your business using the 3 prior years (excluding 2020). Preferably, use 2019, 2018 and 2017. Determine a reasonable growth rate considering the pattern of growth and annual increase in the first quarter of the prior years.
2. Establish a big, bold, optimistic goal for the 1st quarter of 2021. These current conditions do provide the freedom of focus on your business. It is exceedingly difficult not having the opportunity to be as social as we typically are and to see family freely. I am going to use this empty space to move our business forward.
3. Assume that you will be under some form of restrictions and/or lock down as you were throughout 2020. Assume that the COVID-19 vaccine won’t be widely available. Therefore, your business environment will not shift in any significant way. Coming to terms with the reality that our first quarter of business in 2021 will not likely shift could have a liberating affect. You know what you have done to bring your business through 2020 - refine those same strategies for the first quarter of 2021. As we receive more information about the second quarter of 2021, we can start to plan for the environment of that next stage.
4. Create action plans and strategies that can be implemented and achieved under our current environment. I know that this can be complicated for businesses that have seasonal stock to order, so risk assessment is a value tool to navigate this reality.
It might just be time to be bold and target 50% of our goals to be completed in the first quarter. Stay tuned for more content about business planning in 2021.
In the meantime, if you need help with 2021 strategic planning for your business, feel free to book a complimentary call with Costron + Co. to discuss how we can guide you.
