Strategic planning: Better late than never
February 21st, 2023
Strategic planning: Better late than never.
Golden Egg, a marketing communications firm serving clients in the built environment, believes in ‘strategy before tactics’.
That may not always work in practice, but in theory, that’s how they advise their clients: consider your big picture goals first; then, determine the steps you can take to achieve them.
That said, they admittedly allow the proverbial tail to wag the dog at times – reacting daily to deadline-driven requests to develop a digital campaign, write a blog post, prepare an RFP response or design an ad without always understanding the broader context.
Golden Egg owner Lindsey Mathieu says that whenever feasible, she starts by posing fundamental questions that sometimes end up re-shaping the original ask. Questions like:
- Who is you intended audience?
- What is the desired impression/action?
- Is this a one-off request, or should it be developed as a model for future reference / based on existing templates?
- How does this support your marketing communications plan?
- How does this align with your overall business strategy?
Cue the Jeopardy music. Lindsey was quick to report that most of her clients can generally answer to the majority of the questions on this list off the cuff, but few have a response to the last one.
And she was admittedly in the same boat.
Get to work … on your own business objectives!
Like her clients – architects, engineers, construction managers – Lindsey is devoted to client service, sometimes at the expense of her own business. Self-described as feeling “burnt out”, she was struggling to prioritize strategic planning and admittedly lacking the enthusiasm to develop objectives and implement corresponding tactics.
And that’s certainly understandable. Business owners shoulder a ton of responsibilities, however, doing the work always takes priority.
While a certain degree of success can be achieved by applying the “fly by the seat of your pants” model, it’s important to take the reins and intentionally drive your firm in the direction you choose to head.
And Lindsey knew she couldn’t go it alone.
“Golden Egg has evolved and grown considerably since I started the company in 2010, but I can’t necessarily attribute our success to a specific plan of action,” describes Lindsey Mathieu, owner and founding principal. “We’re a far more complex organization now, and I wanted a roadmap to guide our future.”
Enter former colleague and friend Mike Lozanoff, owner of Lozanoff Consulting Services. A professional engineer, Lindsey turned to Mike for his firsthand operations, project delivery and business development experience to help Golden Egg move the needle forward and continue to evolve.
The risk of “business as usual”
Like most entrepreneurs, Lindsey was going a million miles an hour. Between juggling client demands, on-boarding a full-time hire (Vanessa Cardillo), coordinating with consulting partners and getting work out the door, she had very little time to ‘manage’ the business.
In the absence of tangible goals focused on developing and growing her company, doing the work was becoming mundane and not as rewarding as it used to be.
“Like many of the business owners that hire me, I was guilty of putting my head down and tackling my to-do list – day after day, week after week, year after year. I was starting to feel like the business was running me – not the other way around,” said Lindsey.
The inherent rewards of a plan
“Over the course of the past year, Golden Egg went through a series of working sessions with LCS that they’ve described as ‘thought-provoking, productive and inspiring’. And in the recent weeks, they’ve honed in on who they are, what they do and why it matters,” said Mike. “They’ve differentiated the ‘must haves’ from the ‘nice to haves’ to define their priorities. They’ve already put many action items into practice in just a few short months.”
“Through the strategic planning process, we’re becoming more organized and intentional in the way we manage our projects and sell our services,” says Vanessa. “We can already feel a difference in how we plan our workday and how we interact with our clients and partners.”
By helping Lindsey and Vanessa take a step back from day-to-day operations and really think about the business – its purpose, value and long-term vision – broader and more important initiatives started to come into focus. Working together, LCS helped Golden Egg define customized, meaningful goals with realistic, attainable objectives.
Throughout the process, Mike could see the change in their shared energy and excitement for the important work that they do every day. On the tails of completing the strategic plan, LCS remains involved with Golden Egg, supporting Lindsey and Vanessa with routine progress meetings during the implementation phase.
“It’s also safe to say that Golden Egg is practicing what they preach,” he concludes.
