It's time to start thinking about that annual winter activity of Strategic Planning. You do plan your strategies for the upcoming year, right?

Let's review several reasons why setting aside time to plan your 2009 improvement projects may be in your best interest.

1. Competition has increased
2. Your financial position has deteriorated
3. You have suffered significant turnover
4. You didn't suffer turnover (time to expand?)
5. You have noticed new opportunities and are interested in capitalizing on them
6. Your business has grown significantly in the last couple of years
7. And last but not lease - you are not satisfied with the current state of your business

Got it? Nearly every contractor should invest the day or three it takes to put together a thorough strategic plan.

Let's make sure you are clear on what the term strategic plan means.

When you have finished your strategic planning process you should have in hand a set of ACTION PLANS for your highest priority improvement projects. Those plans should lay out, step-by-step the who, what, and when details of the project tasks.

There are a few significant challenges to the strategic planning process that you need to be aware of.