In this blog I will be discussing the final step of creating your COVID-19 shutdown growth plan, monitoring, evaluating and adjusting your plan.
Now that your growth plan has been created and implemented you must monitor evaluate and adjust it as you move forward. Your plan should be reviewed on a regular basis especially since your business will be dealing with start-up issues such as, expanding quickly or too slowly, possibly experiencing cash flow problems, adding laid-off employee, investing in marketing… It is best to set regular review dates and put them in your calendar. Depending on your business this could be a weekly, monthly or quarterly review cycle.
You also need to develop a tracking system. Since your plan contains measurable goals, develop a tracking system to assess where you stand regularly. This includes monitoring your KPIs frequently.
This approach allows you to tweak the system if your numbers are far off the mark. Each of these elements is subject to rapid change, and you should remain aware of where you stand regarding your business objectives and KPIs.
Next, you need to coordinate your growth, marketing and workforce plans. Reviewing these documents simultaneously on a regular basis helps you monitor and control the goals and measurements of each plan. If an element of one plan changes dramatically, evaluate the impact it has on the other plan.
For example, if your marketing plan calls for you to launch a major digital media campaign, but your revenue projections are strong, revise each to stay on track.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to make changes when necessary. A growth plan is not a fixed document.
Consider it a fluid plan that can be tweaked and updated as your business changes and grows. Don’t cling to elements of your plan that are outdated. For example, if your plan includes spending generously on marketing, but you find demand is outpacing capacity, revise and update the growth plan.
Continually revise your plan so that you are always looking ahead basing future projections on past performance.
Well, this wraps up my series on creating a post COVID-19 growth plan. As always, if you have a business question or issues you would like to discuss, please feel free to reach out to me via our Contact page here on our website, www.ParadigmStrategies.com.