Once a restaurant or retail operator demonstrates their concept’s viability by operating successfully in 3-6 units it is time to focus on longer-term strategic planning. Here are a few tips to guide that process:
1. Establish a timeframe, generally 3-5 years, that will stand as the next major inflection point. It is important this is long enough to focus on longer-term goals while not too long that you don’t actively consider this plan in your daily decision making.
2. Involve both internal team members and external advisors in the process. It is crucial to involve at least a few members of your internal team as it increases the buy-in to the results of the process from the team that will need to implement it. It also gets the process closer to the team that deals with the customers on a daily basis. Once there is a working draft of a strategic plan you should involve a few external advisors which should include successful business people both inside and outside the industry that have broader exposure to best in class processes and decision making.
3. In the strategic plan make sure you address not only the end goals but also the infrastructure and process that will need to be put in place to achieve those goals. Set interim milestones to ensure you can continually measure your progress on reaching the end goals.
4. Focus on any resources you will need to execute the plan and set timeframes for when those resources will be needed and how they will be sourced.
5. Note that no Company this size can be best-in-class in every area so make sure the strategic plan prioritizes what is “core” to achieving the plan versus other secondary focus items if time and resources allow.
6. Don’t forget mission and culture of the organization. Although these can be harder to quantify they are every bit as crucial in building a successful organization. Make sure the strategic plan outlines goals in those areas as well.
7. Revisit the plan every year to provide updates and tweaks based on changing circumstances. Once you have achieved the end goals, hopefully in 3 years instead of 5 years, go through the process again to set the bar higher.