"There is always a better strategy than the one you have; you just haven’t thought of it yet."
—Brian Pitman, former CEO of Lloyds TSB

There are major differences between a business plan and a strategic plan. A business plan explains what a company wants to do, how it is going to do it, how much it will cost, and what the benefits will be, in significant detail. A standard business plan includes descriptions or statements of the company’s mission, goals, market opportunity, competition, products and services, management team, marketing and sales, operations, financial projections, and exit strategy. Every business plan is built upon a strategic plan. A strategic plan covers less ground in some ways, but goes much deeper.

A strategic plan covers three areas: scope, positioning, and goals.

• Scope refers to the choice of products or services the company offers. To determine scope, one asks what the company should offer to which customers in what geographic areas.
  
  
• Positioning refers to how the company differentiates itself relative to competitors, as perceived by customers. Examples of positioning include “low cost leader”, “highest in quality”, “high quality at affordable prices”, etc.
  
  
• Goals are specific in time and extent. For example, “achieve a 15% market share in Europe within 15 months”.

Although this sounds relatively simple, in practice, it isn’t. A great strategic plan is valuable; a mediocre or poor plan is worthless at best. The keys to designing and executing a winning strategy are to

• Base the plan on facts --- not fantasies, rosy assumptions, or groupthink.
  
  
• Consider a wide range of alternatives, even if some at first seem too far-fetched, or come from unexpected sources (the administrative assistant in marketing, or the most junior member of the strategic planning committee.)
  
  
• Build alignment and buy-in with managers, staff and stakeholders through effective communication, management and monitoring.

Our senior staff have been trained at top business schools (Harvard, University of Chicago) and we keep up with current trends in management consulting. We believe the best approach is to keep our options open, and adapt our process to fit the specific circumstances of the client at hand, rather than rigidly adhere to one fixed strategic planning process or methodology.

We'll work with you to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to guide the growth of your enterprise, now and in years to come. The most advantageous strategies for your business will be determined through a rigorous, collaborative thought process that -

1. Evaluates the core competencies of your enterprise in relation to the business environment in which you compete,
   
   
2. Outlines strategies that will use your competencies to best advantage, differentiate your enterprise in ways that are meaningful to customers, and enable you to profitably grow and gain market share.

Since every company is different, we can tailor our strategic planning engagement to fit your budget and timeframe. A full-fledged strategic planning engagement typically requires 60-90 days to complete. This allows ample time for research, brainstorming, analysis, and documentation, and is appropriate for most middle market companies. However, we can work on a tighter budget and timeframe by collapsing the process down to several one-or two-day workshops, combined with research beforehand and analysis and documentation afterwards.

We'll work with you to summarize and articulate the strategic plan in a set of clear, succinct documents that address these critical questions:

• What is your business model? What are your major revenue streams, and their magnitude and timing?
  
  
• Who are your present and prospective customers and what critical unmet needs will motivate purchase decisions?
  
  
• What is your customer value proposition? (A credible promise of value, delivered to customers in ways that distinguish your enterprise from anyone else in your line of business)
  
  
• How will you gain new customers? What marketing and sales channels can be developed to best advantage?
  
  
• Who are your present and potential competitors?
  
  
• What barriers to entry exist (or can be created) to build a wide moat that protects your business from present and future competitive incursions?
  
  
• What strategic resources (including alliances with other businesses) can reduce your cost of operations and give you the edge?
  
  
• What are your projected milestones that must be achieved as you build the enterprise?

Of course a finely tuned strategic plan is useless if you can't execute. For that reason, Ground Floor Partners doesn't stop at developing a plan. We can also help your company execute the plan, providing you with the resources you need to translate the plan into effective action.