Your Company’s Vision – Part Two

Creating a Three-Year Plan

Three years from today, your business will be ___ (fill in the blank). You need to have an answer, or you are flying blind. You don’t need just any answer, though, you want a S.M.A.R.T answer. Smart stands for

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timeframed

Be Sure to Have a Ten-Year Plan First

But before developing your three-year plan, let us review the ten-year plan from our last blog. That plan is more of a wish or a dream scenario. It is your ideal point of where you want to be at the end of a ten-year period.

As great as the 10-year target is, spending a ton of time on that step isn’t as important as detailing your three-year picture. The return on developing your three-year picture is huge, however. The key is with the three-year picture; it ideally gives you a very clear insight of what you need to do in the next year.

Now, you see how it’s starting to work. The 10-year plan leads to the three-year plan, and then to the one-year plan (stay tuned). Eventually, we will get down to weekly plans. It’s a brilliant system and way to achieve your objective ultimately.

Starting Your Three-Year Plan

If you do not have someone in your business thinking and documenting what you want to achieve and where you want to be in three years, you are behind the eight ball. Now if you do have someone doing these things with your senior leadership team (and it’s on paper) as well as taking actionable steps, great job.

The first thing you can start to do is think of the revenue you want to generate as a company. You should be able to get a general idea of what you want that to be. You are probably going to get several different answers so stick with it. Ideally, it will take some discussion, but once you get everyone on the same page, they will be able to co-exist and work well. Be S.M.A.R.T here. Growing revenue often comes with added expenses and challenges. Be sure to address these issues with the team and agree on a solid revenue goal.

What’s revenue without profit? So, that’s the next step. Find what your profit goal is, and this should be much easier since you already know your basics margins. Then, after the profit is set, it’s time to discuss certain measurables. This discussion will give everyone scope and size. It’s key that every organization has one or two very specific figures that are a telltale sign of the size of the organization.

Resources for Creating Your Plan

There are several more steps to ensure a great three-year picture, be sure to pick up your copy of Traction by Gino Wickman today to learn more.

Would you like to find help with your three-year target? Contact Legacy 4:12 to see if we can help you create a S.M.A.R.T answer.