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How To Develop A Strategic Action Plan (SAP) For Your Business

Chidiogo Akaelu
  I believe that at the beginning of the year, you set out goals for your business. You probably sat down with your team members to draft a plan for the year. How is that plan coming up? Several times, as business owners and enthusiasts, we make plans and set goals which look unattainable. We’ve been told to set SMART goals, but what are these goals without actionable steps to back them up? This is where you need a Strategic Action Plan (SAP). 
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A strategic action plan refers to the step-by-step approach which you will be employing to reach your goals, as a business and even as an individual. This means that an SAP is crucial to the execution of all business goals.  In this article, I will be sharing ideas on how you can develop your own SAP for your business. So, let’s get right into it. To start making any plans for business growth, you must first understand the competitive space in which your industry is located. In identifying your competition, you will know what your prospective customers are looking for, the gap your competitors have and the way you will come in to fill that gap. This means that your goals will be centred on what problem you are out to solve. What is your competitive advantage? Truth is, no one will patronize you if you are not healing their pain points. How strategic can you be when you don’t put into consideration the needs of your customers. This implies building a lasting relationship with them and taking note of their feedback. Before, during and after a sales process, keep in touch with your customers.
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Ask for their honest feedback. This will help you know what to trash or add to your business model, in order to serve and satisfy them. This is where more action begins. Sit with your team and outline the goals you have set, addressing your competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. Take each goal, one after the other, and describe the actions that will be taken to achieve them. For instance, if one of your goals is to get more social media followers for more social proof, the follow-up actions could be; increasing engagement, creating quality content, optimizing your bio, or any other thing you deem fit. Remember that you need to be as specific as possible. Sometimes, it can be convenient to just outline tasks to be carried out, but when you don’t put names to them, they are either not performed or underperformed. What does this mean? While you note down each specific step, assign them to your team by their names.
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This way, each person knows that there is a specific responsibility they are to carry out. It also helps in easy evaluation to assess when one is performing optimally or not. It is not enough to assign tasks. Ensure that you back it up with deadlines for each person. Also, you will have to provide whatever resources will be needed to perform the task. For instance, if a team member needs a digital marketing skill to deliver their tasks effectively, you might have to buy online courses and ensure they take the courses to brush up on their skills. When these steps are checked, the only next thing to do is to implement them. Be sure that your team members are motivated throughout the process. At the end of the quarter, (depending on your SAP timelines), do well to celebrate every success. You might not hit your target at the end of the day, but celebrate whatever hard work has been put into the project. This will keep you and your team boasted to take more giant strides. Featured Image Source: Small Business Trends
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