It happens to every business from time to time; you look over the balance sheets and wonder what happened. Your profits are plunging, your costs are skyrocketing, and you ask yourself, “how could this happen? We are doing things the same way we have always done them!”

That, right there, is the whole problem. Businesses that keep doing things the same old way are the ones that get trampled by changes in the market and the innovations of their competitors.

If you want to survive, it's not enough to stay stable; you need to get back to the basics of strategic planning, and take drastic action to turn your business around.

In this three-part series of articles, we will explore four strategic planning keys that Brian Tracy lays out in his book "The Way to Wealth Workbook, Part III: Blueprints for Success." Here's how those keys work.

Reorganization

Don't be afraid to move people around in your organization. Maybe Carrie at the reception desk would make a great salesperson. Maybe Mark in the warehouse, who has been losing track of parts lately, would be much happier and more productive in research and development.

Even though you have hired someone for a certain job doesn't mean that individual has to move up the rigid hierarchy in that department. You have to see the agility in your organization; a sharp eye for the potential in each employee, and the place in your business where they will reach their highest potential.

In the same way, think about how you are allocating your business's spending. Is someone bringing in a big box of doughnuts every Monday morning because it's company tradition, even though your employees would rather have healthier and cheaper snacks? You can probably think of a dozen other examples scattered throughout your company, and a lot of minor improvements add up to major cost savings.

This watchfulness isn't solely your responsibility. Lead by example, and encourage managers and supervisors throughout your company to keep an eye out for employees who would be happier and more productive in other roles. When a certain employee is wasting a lot of time, “slacking,” it's easy to have the knee-jerk of sitting them down and going over their performance, and maybe threatening to let them go. However, your business would be much better served if you could find a more engaging, stimulating role for that person; a role that will push them to reach their full potential.

The same goes for expenses that could be better spent on more useful improvements, set an example, and inspire your team to watch for spending that could be channeled into more relevant purchases. Above all, stay open to these kinds of organizational changes.

One of our Coaches was working with a health and beauty products distributor. Shipping items cross-country and internationally was a big part of their business. From time to time, the post office would lose a package, or would fail to deliver it by the agreed-upon date. A young lady named Jenna was in charge of this shipping coordination, and she had been urging the owner to apply to the post office for a $60,000 credit for all the missed postage. The owner had dismissed this suggestion, thinking it wasn't that big of a problem. One day over lunch, Jenna insisted that the owner look at the issue. The owner later told our Coach about the results, laughing the whole time: “It turned out Jenna was right; the amount of credit we got back actually exceeded her annual salary! I can't believe we didn't listen to her for so long."

This if the first article in our three-part series on strategic planning keys, as explained in Brian Tracy's book "The Way to Wealth Workbook, Part III: Blueprints for Success." Don't miss our next installment!....