Every business needs to set goals. But what comes next? Learn tostrategize your business to achieve your goals with less daily effort.

Dominating the market you’re in has less to do with the actual day-to-day operation of your business than you might think.In fact, dominating your market is largely about strategic planning.Forming a clear plan for the future is the key to achieving yourbusiness goals.

A mission statement is the foundation of any business.In many cases, customers never see this statement. It is a shortdocument that lays out in very clear terms what the business is allabout. A mission statement focuses internal attention on what sets yourbusiness apart from every other business in the market.

While a mission statement will get you started on strategizing your business, it’s not the whole picture. Determining a clear path to your overall goals and communicating the details of this path should follow.

Those who choose to strategize their business will no doubt learn the term GOSPA.It stands for goals, objectives, strategies, plans and actions. Whendeveloping a strategy for your business, it will become your mantra.Following the GOSPA path involves taking calculated steps toward anoverall goal, starting with a mission statement.

• Goals. Goals, of course, set out a statement ofintent without naming specific parameters. Where do you want thebusiness to go? What are you trying to achieve?
• Objectives. The next part of your strategyinvolves setting objectives. Every project or venture should involvetangible objectives that team members strive for. Rather than “increasesales,” an objective is clear and definite, such as “increase sales byfive percent before the end of the quarter.”
• Strategies. Not surprisingly, developing actualstrategies for reaching your goals is also a part of your overallbusiness strategy. An objective-specific strategy should lay outexactly how you plan to reach that objective. The entire team should beinvolved in setting strategy. A brainstorming session with the teamwill give impressive collaborative results.
• Plans. Plans take strategies one step further. Youlay out specific steps to put in motion the strategies that will getyou closer to your objectives. Everything starts falling into placeduring this step and the team understands what must be done to make themagic happen.
• Actions. Finally, actions get the proverbial ballrolling. The team takes steps to carry out the plans and reach theobjectives that were laid out.

Unfortunately, the best-laid plans will fail to get yourbusiness off the ground if your critical success factors are not inplace. What are the vital elements that must be present beforeyou can achieve your goals? These can be anything from effectiveadvertising to excellent customer service. In order to move forward andmake a difference, your critical success factors should be a toppriority.

Once your plan is in action and you are making progress toward your goals, keeping track of that progress becomes a priority. Usekey performance indicators (KPI’s) to track how much closer you are toyour goal today than you were yesterday. Key performance indicators aretangible measurements of progress. How much have profits risen? Howmany new customers have been obtained? When your plans are progressing,key performance indicators become a main focus. Monitoring themconstantly allows you to catch variations and steer your plan back oncourse.

This all seems overwhelming at first to many business owners.However, it can be made simpler by splitting up your strategies.Long-term strategies may affect the business indefinitely. Short-termstrategies affect the business immediately. Medium-term strategies fallanywhere in the middle of the two. Prioritize your strategies and yourplans to make the process a little easier.

You will find that management and daily operations are easier when a clear strategy has been laid out for the entire business.Instead of running on daily instructions or objectives, the entireworkforce will work toward the bigger picture. You’ll then be free tofocus on what you do best: growing your business to be the next bigthing.