Author: Jim

Planning for Success Requires Patience to Implement Successfully! Writing a Strategic Plan may be compared to Baking a Chocolate Cake from scratch with similar pitfalls planning for success. Both are custom made and best when executed by experts. They require diligence, precision, adherence to complicated steps and most of all – patience. Rushing the process causes serious mistakes. But those who carefully plan will enjoy good profit. Before baking a cake, correct ingredients must be gathered in a well-equipped kitchen. Note: an oven’s inaccurate temperature gauge will under cook or burn the cake’s edges. Compare this with market data that is slanted to reflect a “hoped for” conclusion. Both examples will negatively affect the outcome, despite following all the remaining steps perfectly! Even measuring and mixing ingredients offers pitfalls. The sugar and butter must be combined first, then added to the dry mix. Beat the ingredients too long and the cake becomes flat. Substitute wrong ingredients and the flavor can be ruined. (I vividly remember my daughter Linda, making a batch of blueberry muffins. She substituted baking soda for baking powder resulted in a bitter flavor of soap.) Essential to a Strategic Plan, beyond researching the market, is gathering data from former and current customers, as well as employees who have valuable expertise to be tapped carefully. Employees are in a position to assist or foil implementation. Remember – some employees may be...