2019 – the start of a new year, new plans and a new strategy! There are plenty of opportunities that lie ahead this year and Sally Laker, Managing Director at Mortgage Intelligence, highlights the importance of having a strategy.

Having a clear ambitious but also achievable strategy is essential for every successful business. So here are some top tips to help you make the best out of the year ahead.

Road Map

A strategy is a plan to enable you to get to where you want to be in a specific time scale. Think of it as a road map to get you from A to B, it stops you getting lost and it keeps you on the right track to ensure you reach your destination. 

Decide on your goal

Firstly, decide your destination or goal for the business, what do you want to achieve this year, what are your business priorities, growth plans and areas you want to explore?

Identify potential opportunities and threats

Understand your business, identify the strengths and weaknesses that could hold you back. What are the potential threats and opportunities (SWOT) and have you taken outside factors into account in this changing world? A SWOT analysis is a simple but effective way of jotting down all possibilities that might thwart or supercharge the plan.

Involve key people

It is so important to involve the key people within your business to make sure you have the right information and insight to build your strategy and agree the goal that you want to achieve.

Develop objectives

Once you have agreed on your goal you need to develop some key objectives that should summarise the priorities that will deliver that goal.  They need to address KPIs, resource, and budget requirements.

Once you have agreed the key objectives you will be able to put the meat on the bones, by translating those objectives into action plans for the people in the business that can deliver them. These could also apply to suppliers and third parties. Once these are agreed and geared to deliver the key objectives, you stand a really good chance of delivering your goal.

Create a strategy document

Finally, the most important part, formally create a strategy document, clearly defining the goal or vision for the business, with key objectives needed to achieve that goal, and the action plans underpinning the key objectives. Make sure you clearly define who is responsible for delivering them and within agreed timescales. Share the document with everyone in the business, and review it every month, make it a live document, so that you are not only checking if you are on track, but sharing good news with everyone in the business. Also tweak the plan if you need to, change frequently happens in this industry and you need to be able to accommodate unexpected curve balls! Keeping a close check on progress and pushing forward each month is the key to success.

Whatever your strategy looks like, we’re here to help! We have a wide range of services available for you on Broker Zone, from marketing materials to compliance support exclusive products. Make sure you’re making the most of what we have to offer! Visit brokerzone.experiencemi.co.uk

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