The Three Elements of Strategic Planning

Creating Disney Magic

Strategic Planning does not mean creating a big complex plan.

The purpose of a strategic plan is simply to make business better. An effective strategic plan only has 3 elements: Customer, Employee, and the Bottom Line.

There are three questions you want to answer in your strategic plan;

How can we make it better for guests?

How can we make it better for employees?

How can we make more money?

Sit down with employees and ask them about the business. What are they hearing from customers? What do they need to do their job better? What outstanding maintenance issues are you missing?

Now Make a list of questions and ideas by department

Here are a couple of examples:

Food and beverage:

-How can we increase the average amount of a bill?

-How can we get guests to buy a desert?

Retail:

-What shops should we consider opening?

-What products should we carry to increase spending per guest?

-Do we have any maintenance issues?

Now go through your financial statements. Where can you do better? What can you eliminate altogether?

Don't view your strategic plan as something you shape once a year. New ideas can show up at any time. Re-examine the strategic plan every quarter to see where you can improve and what new ideas you can insert into the plan.