For many students, the beginning of the new year is the perfect time to start some smart strategic planning for the year ahead. I always suggest starting these strategic planning exercises early in your time as a student, as it will help you develop skills which will become important as you progress with your studies and develop your entrepreneurial abilities.
Here are six easy steps you can follow to help ensure you can plan strategically like a successful entrepreneur in 2019.
Set your strategic vision
Almost every single textbook about strategic planning suggests setting up strategic goals to achieve in the long-term. This is easy to say but so difficult to do when your plans for the year ahead can often feel quite vague.
I usually suggest exercising your imagination by brainstorming at least one full page of 15-20 goals and ideas – whatever comes to mind.
The next step is to downsize this list to five long-term goals and objectives using the methods of exclusion, SWOT analysis, scenario planning or other analytical tools.
At this stage, don’t worry if your goals and objectives might need regular revision in the future. After all, strategic plans shouldn’t be written in stone, and should be regularly revised if adjustments are needed.
Identify the resources and tools needed to achieve your goals
At this stage, it’s important to avoid the “simplification trap” – many students often immediately start considering and calculating only their financial resources, but the reality is that other, non-tangible assets may be more important to your goals.
For example, you might have access to certain professional software, equipment, conference rooms or office space, which you can use to accomplish your objectives.
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