Dohr Family Business Consulting, LLC

Building Value and Harmony for Business Transition

Strategic Planning

Businesses fail, it is argued, due to a lack of planning. Most business owner/operators have dreams for their business but often do not translate these dreams into clear visions with strategic goals that define focus for the business. Often, the vision and focus get lost as one generation succeeds another. Whether this is called strategic planning, long range planning or just simply planning doesn't really matter. What does matter is that planning dramatically improves the chances of survival and success.

Strategic plans all too often end up on the shelf gathering dust. The development of a strategic plan is, in itself, nothing more than an exercise, and leads to no where. To be effective, the plan must be used as a roadmap and meet at least the following criteria:

• Is it practical and realistic?
• Does it differentiate your business from others?
• Is it comprehensive and data driven?
• Does it create vision, mission, goals and objectives?
• Will it help focus the business on what is most important?
• Does it help to channel resources toward the right priorities?

Symptoms to Look For

• There is no strategic plan and/or driving business direction
• There is a lack of alignment, cohesion and common focus among family members and/or management
• The business frequently seems to shift business directions
  (i.e., changes in priority, focus, allocation of resources and/or people)
• Plans never seem to get implemented-accountability for results is lacking
• Ongoing confusion and chaos over market and product strategies
• Management doesn't understand its current position in the marketplace
• The owner/management continually over or underestimates its capabilities

Services and Benefits Provided

• Facilitating strategic planning, business planning and goal setting retreats
• Family business strategic planning
• Owner and management strategy planning around significant events, i.e., buy or sell, succession planning, downsizing, diversifying into new product lines and/or markets, mergers or acquisitions