Considering the changes forced upon us by the COVID19 pandemic, many businesses are rethinking their existing plans. Others are now realizing they need to have a simple, actionable plan to help them navigate through a changing world. In either case, business planning approaches of the past 20 years are seen as lacking flexibility, being too static and overly time-consuming.
Business plans are roadmaps for where you want to take your business and how you plan to get there. Access resources to help you plan, execute, assess and adjust course as needed to build and grow your company. A strategic plan should be clear, detailed and measurable.
Canada has a lot of opportunities for your company to grow, but the first step should be properly strategized. For a company to succeed, it must understand its strengths and weaknesses in its environment. A SWOT analysis is one of the most common tools companies use to analyse their current condition and position themselves for the future.
Create a strategic plan
We can help you create a strategic plan that reflects your vision for your business, aligns your team and defines the actions needed to get there.
The SWOT analysis helps you see how you stand out in the marketplace, how you can grow as a business and where you are vulnerable. This easy-to-use tool also helps you identify your company’s opportunities and any threats it faces. The process takes account of both the internal and external factors your company must navigate.
Strengths and weaknesses are often internal to your organization, while opportunities and threats generally relate to external factors. For this reason, the SWOT Analysis is sometimes called internal-external analysis and the SWOT matrix is sometimes called an IE matrix.
Let’s create your roadmap to success:
A sound strategic plan sets the stage for where you want your business to go and gets your entire organization working together to get there. We can help you create a strategic plan that reflects your vision for your business, aligns your team and defines the actions needed to get there.
Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) is a priority for Canada. It is central to Canada’s trade diversification strategy, inclusive trade and sustainable and inclusive economic growth. It also complements Canada’s approach to human rights, taking action on climate change, sustainable development, multilateralism, a rules-based trading system, recognizing, respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of Indigenous peoples, and children, eradicating poverty, combatting discrimination, promoting gender equality and inclusion and diversity—including digital inclusion. It also aligns closely with the Government of Canada’s Feminist Foreign Policy, including its Feminist International Assistance Policy. Additionally, Canada has committed to RBC on the global stage, through ratifying several international treaties and adhering to various guidelines that promote RBC, including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles), the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) and as it relates to the respect and recognition of the human rights of Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Canadian companies continue to be a competitive force internationally and contribute to a strong global brand for Canada. They recognize the shifting global environment with respect to responsible business conduct and the link to their competitiveness and brand reputation. They adopt responsible business practices in their operations to mitigate risks, and use their influence to reduce risks throughout their supply chains. They integrate Canadian values into their activities, including diversity and inclusion, combatting discrimination, promoting human rights, gender equality and the rights of Indigenous peoples and take action to contribute to global goals such as the Sustainable Development Goals, and climate change targets.
Do You Need a Strategy?
What is your current business strategy? How effective is your planning process? Or, are you proud to say that you focus on execution and performance and are too busy producing and performing to waste time on nebulous strategies? As you focus on recovering from the pandemic, it is tempting to agree that you need just to get the job done, and not worry about nebulous concepts like strategy.