After receiving another Simplified One Page Strategic Plan as a requirement prior to meeting, I couldn’t help but think that asking for this document in advance of many types of meeting would serve all parties well. Often, the entrepreneur has a tactical thing or two that they want help with, yet there are bigger picture items that need to be addressed. When being able to see the full story in the one page strategic plan, the chance for a more meaningful conversation increases.
Here are a few types of conversations where the one page strategic plan can really help:
- Mentors / Advisors – What better way to provide accountability than to have all the goals with metrics right there? Mentors can better help entrepreneurs with more holistic information.
- Team Members – When employees and other team members have the strategic plan, it helps align their actions and connect what they do on a day-to-day/week-to-week with the big company goals.
- Potential Investors – Having the strategic plan helps investors understand the big picture direction as well as the most important high-level metrics.
- Current Investors – Many angel investors don’t get regular updates from their portfolio companies, which seems crazy but is true. Entrepreneurs would do well to share an updated strategic plan monthly with their investors and have it as a starting point for regular in-person conversations.
The Simplified One Page Strategic Plan is a great starting point for many types of conversations and should be employed by entrepreneurs that want more accountability and alignment with everyone that helps.
What else? What are some more types of conversations that would benefit from having a strategic plan present at the meeting?
David Cummings on Startups 