Leading Entrepreneurship

with Daniel James Scott

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Three Questions for Longer-Term Planning

January 9th, 2009 · 1 Comment ·

As entrepreneurs, we tend to become proficient at putting out fires. However, periodically, we need to look at the longer-term picture. But how?

In my experience, three questions help take a very quick look at planning strategically for your firm. These questions, in order, are:

  1. At the end of the timeframe you are looking at how many employees do you envision yourself having?
  2. How much business would you have to have to support and sustain that level of employees?
  3. What changes would need to change inside your firm to accommodate that level of growth?

On the surface, these questions seem benign, but that is before you really start soul searching. Being forced to put a number on the number of employees really opens an entrepreneur’s thinking about growth, organizational structure, management style, staffing requirements, etc.

If these questions have helped you make a breakthrough, or if you have additional advice, please post a comment below.

Tags: Leadership · Strategy + Execution