Matching potential opportunities with skills of operators has now opened the door to putting strategic priorities in motion in your operation.

Many of the elements in the implementation and refining of strategic priorities are components of a formal business plan. Key elements of a business plan include an executive summary, mission statement, products and services, resources available, current and potential markets, personnel, pro-forma financial statements, and risk-management strategies. Even if you don’t create a formal business plan, you should write down your action steps, create a timetable, and develop goals and metrics related to your plans.

The strategies you have identified are needed to reach your long-run vision. Because of this, you may want to rank your strategies and start laying plans for the strategy that ranks the highest. Also, make sure your goals are aligned with your strategy. 

Questions to consider

Do this by using one-year and longer-term goals as action steps. What will you need to do in the next year to implement your strategy? The answer to this question may involve each major management area on your farm.

How will your strategy affect financial, marketing, production, human resources and risk-mitigation decisions? What modifications are needed in the decision-making process? Longer term, how will this new strategy affect products you produce, and how you produce and market your products? Do you have the necessary financial resources and personnel in place to achieve your goals? 

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When developing goals, how are you are going to measure whether each goal was successful? Do this using key metrics, such as financial or production performance measures. Gauge whether pursuing a particular strategy was successful. Examine whether your strategy improved key financial metrics, such as operating profit margin and asset turnover ratio, and whether your strategy allowed you to meet your farm growth targets.

Exit strategies

You also need to consider exit strategies. Not all strategies are going to work. Sometimes what seems like a brilliant idea in a brainstorming session simply does not work. You need an exit strategy for every strategic priority. 

The tricky part is to determine when and if to exit the endeavor. This is complicated by the fact that some strategies have high front-end costs, with benefits accruing over a long period of time. Just because something is difficult to articulate, such as exit strategies, does not mean that it is not important to consider.       

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Strategic planning should not be thought of as a one-time process that your farm engages in when there is a major change in the operation. It is an ongoing activity that enables your farm to react to new opportunities or threats and take advantage of new and evolving resources.