So what is the biggest problem businesses face today? No, it isn’t taxes, regulations, talent, cost of capital, or even the economy. Anyone care to guess? I will contend it is the failure of business (and non-profits) to execute their strategic plans which according to a Harvard statistic 90% fail to do. Yes, you read correctly, 90% of companies do not execute their strategies! Let’s think about this for a minute. What does that mean?
A strategic plan as you know articulates an organization’s strategy. What is strategy? Strategy is essentially where an organization plays (customers they serve, channels utilized to reach those customers, geographies, etc.) and how they win (low cost provider, quality, luxury, white glove service, convenience, etc.). So if only 10% of businesses can execute their strategic plan which determines where they play and how they win relative to their competition how much shareholder value is just wasted? It is hard to calculate.
Now imagine if you would, that your company not only has the ability to utilize the smart people it employs and or strategy consultants to come up with great strategic iniatives to suppport the company’s financial goals and vision but also the ability to execute the strategy? How would that set your company up vs the competition? What would that mean in terms of market share, EBITDA, brand recognition, efficiency, cost controls, organizational structure, etc? How would the shareholders feel? How would your community benefit? Now back to the reality that only 10% of companies out there currently do this. So what is the opportunity cost of being one of the 90%? Now do you agree that this is a very big problem facing businesses today?
So what do we do about it? Well, we have an on line proprietary tool that allows executives to track their strategy and tactics in real time by dollars, people, and processes. That way if the execution of the strategy starts to slip a company can course correct and the results are updated instantly. This dramatically increases the chances of successful implementation of the strategic plan. Contact us to learn more or sign up your company for a 30 day free trial.
