Strategic Planning Provides Printers with Long-Term Direction

At least every three or five years, owners and key management of a printing company should go through a strategic planning session. It is an interesting and educational process. It not only allows you to take a step back and see what is going on with your company, but it also affords the power of ideas from your brightest bunch through some useful brainstorming sessions. This is a team approach to solving the business problems, and to gearing up for any future endeavors. It is very helpful to utilize a facilitator for the meeting, preferably someone who is familiar with the industry and your market.

The process starts with a current assessment of the company's mission and vision statement. Depending on your situation, it could suggest a philosophy of "out with the old and in with the new" or it may just be an investigation into what you really want from the business. A mission is a company's reason for being, and it should convey a sense of purpose to employees. Moreover, it should project an image to customers, and set the mood for where the company is going.

Equally as important, and something you should do right out of the gate, is to define your objectives for the day. This means setting concrete goals that you seek to reach. The goals should be challenging, but achievable. It is important that they are measurable so that you can monitor your progress and make corrections if needed.

The meat of the session may lie in this next stage, called the SWOT analysis. This acronym stands for "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats." The facilitator will most likely use an easel and large note pad to document the findings from the team's input. The significance of this is the ability to connect the dots by linking the strengths to opportunities, and the weaknesses to threats. The focus will be on maximizing the strengths, and minimizing the weaknesses.

Formulating strategies to achieve company goals is important. Examples of general goals may be cost leadership, differentiation, or focus. It is important to be specific, and not take on too many. Management should arm itself with tools such as budgets, financial statements, industry ratio studies, and industry news. Once strategies are formulated, they need to be implemented. This means "who, what, when, and how." Controls must be put in place to monitor performance.

Finally, there are X factors, such as politics, the state of the economy, and social and technological development, which affect the outcome of any strategic plan. You will need a multi-year action plan with annual baby steps. Without strategic planning, you may be limiting your company's potential.

MargolisBecker LLC is a business and management advisory firm specializing in the graphic arts industry offering services such as business valuations, mergers and acquisitions, turnaround management, auditing and tax compliance. You can reach Stuart Margolis or Brian Enverso at (610) 667-4310 or (888) 577-1717.