Unfortunately, they didn't move anything forward.  Furthermore, they were so organized and there were so many levels, layers and procedures that people got confused, not only about who they were to report to, but also what they themselves were supposed to do.

This is the stagnation that happens with many businesses and entrepreneurs when new opportunities come down the pike.  While it may not be about committees or levels of management, it is often about having a process to manage these opportunities.  While it may seem somewhat simple or useless, this process will help you, very quickly evaluate and implement or discard opportunities when they arise.

1. Does this opportunity help you achieve your mission?  Does that MLM opportunity help you serve those who you intend to serve, better?
2. Will the opportunity help you achieve your vision?
3. Does this opportunity compromise your values?

If these work, there is hope for the opportunity.  Otherwise, throw it away.  Next set of questions

1. Do you have the resources to be successful with this without compromising your current service to your current clients?
2. Is there an implementation strategy that you need consider, assuming this will affect your customers or your team?
3. Will your business truly be better off, having taken advantage of this opportunity?  Consider telling someone the story about how this will look in your organization, and see if it makes sense to them.

Now, you plan

1. Begin with the end in mind: what will it look like when everything is said and done.
2. Set a soft date to work backwards from. 
3. Do you need to provide additional training?
4. Is there marketing you have to do?
5. Do you need to hire additional staff?
6. Do you need to get additional cash to make it work?
7. Set your hard date

The result of your plan should be an organizational business plan, or a business plan designed for the inner workings of your organization.  It need not be as detailed or pretty as you might use for presentation or organizational modeling, but it should outline what needs to be done. 

In my organization, this will look like some flowcharts, a project plan and some narrative.  In yours, it might be heavy narrative and few drawings.  This will depend completely on your culture, and require that you understand how your organization is to be most effective.

The most important thing is to Keep Moving Forward!

Labels: Business Decisions, Business Growth Strategies, Business Path, Business Process, Business Strategy, Management and Leadership, Small Business Consulting, Strategic Planning