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The Hustle to Startup Blog

Tactical vs Strategic Planning: Benefits, Examples, & Templates

tactical planning

Today’s Business Task: Create a tactical plan that helps keep you on track towards reach that SMART business goal (and yes, I have templates for you).

tactical planning template

Tactical Planning Template

Grab the template for this tactical planning exercise so you can build this as you go through the post.

This was one of the most important pieces I learned during the business class I took recently, and something I currently have hanging on my wall.

Contents

  • 1 Tactical Planning vs Strategic Planning
    • 1.1 Characteristics of a Strategic Plan:
    • 1.2 Characteristics of a Tactical Plan:
  • 2 The Steps to Tactical Planning
    • 2.1 1. Goals
    • 2.2 2. Tactics
    • 2.3 3. Action Steps
    • 2.4 4. Resources
    • 2.5 5. Deadline
    • 2.6 6. Person Responsible
  • 3 Tactical Planning Template

Tactical Planning vs Strategic Planning

Before we dive into building this thing, we need to understand what a tactical plan is.

This sounds like an uber-boring topic, eh? Once you get the hang of it, you won’t think that anymore. This is really powerful stuff for business owners.

Here is how Business Dictionary explains these two:

Strategic planning is a ”systematic process of envisioning a desired future, and translating this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them.”

Tactical planning is “a systematic determination and scheduling of the immediate or short-term activities required in achieving the objectives of strategic planning.”

Now that we got the very technical definitions out of the way, here is how I think of these two:

Strategic planning is figuring out what you want the future to look like, and breaking that into goals. If you want to grow a business that brings in 3 million in revenue, what business goals do you need to accomplish to get there?

Characteristics of a Strategic Plan:

  • Long-Term – 3-5 years out
  • Broad Goals
  • The why behind your work
  • More stable and don’t change much

Tactical planning is breaking up those goals into workable tasks that we can start scheduling into our task management system and calendar. We take the goals from above and put together specific plans for how to reach those.

Characteristics of a Tactical Plan:

  • Short-term: 1-2 years
  • Narrow and focused goals
  • How you are going to reach the strategic plan goals
  • These can be changed quickly
tactical planning template

Tactical Planning Template

Grab the template for this tactical planning exercise so you can build this as you go through the post.

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The Steps to Tactical Planning

One of the more powerful things I learned was that of a Tactical Improvement Plan, or Tactical implementation plan as I’ve found it’s also called. I like the latter name better, because it reminds you that it’s about getting sh*t done, as opposed to improving.

Either way, this plan consists of 6 pieces:

1. Goals

These are not just any goals, we want to use SMART goals. They are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound, AND include “why” you are working towards them.

Real Life Example:

My first goal for this plan was to “Develop a set of key packages for clients that bundle relative services based off the scope of work by 10/15, in order to increase efficiency of the sales process.”

2. Tactics

These are the strategies you are going to be using to achieve the goal above. These tactics are not the actual tasks you’ll accomplish, but the kinds of things you’ll be doing to reach that goal.

Real Life Example:

Taking the goal above, my tactics were:

  1. Take inventory of everything I’m currently doing and categorize them
  2. Put together a comprehensive packaging of those services
  3. Implement the new packages

These don’t have dates, they aren’t ready to be put in my task management system yet, so let’s move on to the action steps that I’ll need to get these done.

3. Action Steps

As I alluded to above, action steps are specific tasks you can put into your task manager and schedule a date for completion.

Think of this part as building your “to-do list” to make sure you achieve those tactics.

Real Life Example:

For this tactical plan example, here are the action steps (in bold) for each of the tactics listed above:

  • Take inventory of everything I’m currently doing and categorize them
    • Create a list of all services offered (what it is, why it’s done, etc.)
    • Categorize each service into buckets based on necessity to the core package and type.
    • Decide on a core package offering that stands alone but is also a lead into upselling other services.
  • Put together a comprehensive packaging of those services
    • Put together a full breakdown of what’s included in the core package
    • Determine “tier 2” packages for customers
    • Come up with an a la carte menu for other add-ons and services
    • Creates a sales proposition (copy, who it’s for, etc.)
  • Implement the new packages
    • Identify appropriate pricing structure
    • Add new packages to the website
    • Reach out to existing clients and put them into a package

4. Resources

Next, we’re going to determine resources needed for each of those tasks, so we know what we’ll need to have in order to start the work.

Resources can include things like financial resources, materials, software, equipment, current employees, new employees, and outsourcing work.

Sometimes, the resource is as simple as your time. For others it might be another person, tools you need to acquire, etc. My resources are in bold below:

  • Take inventory of everything I’m currently doing and categorize them
    • Create a list of all services offered (what it is, why it’s done, etc.)
      • Resources Needed: Past client files and proposals
    • Categorize each service into buckets based on necessity to the core package and type.
      • Resources Needed: My time
    • Decide on a core package offering that stands alone but is also a lead into upselling other services.
      • Resources Needed: Past client files and time
  • Put together a comprehensive packaging of those services
    • Put together a full breakdown of what’s included in the core package
      • Resources Needed: list of services and time
    • Determine “tier 2” packages for customers
      • Resources Needed: list of services and time
    • Come up with an a la carte menu for other add-ons and services
      • Resources Needed: list of services and time
    • Creates a sales proposition (copy, who it’s for, etc.)
      • Resources Needed: time and copywriting help
  • Implement the new packages
    • Identify appropriate pricing structure
      • Resources Needed: computer, time, and research
    • Add new packages to the website
      • Resources Needed: computer and time
    • Reach out to existing clients and put them into a package
      • Resources Needed: computer and phone calls

5. Deadline

Next, we are going to determine a deadline for each of these tasks in the tactical plan. Without the time piece, you’re going to get bogged down in trying to figure out what is due first and when you’re actually going to have this goal done.

  • Take inventory of everything I’m currently doing and categorize them
    • Create a list of all services offered (what it is, why it’s done, etc.)
      • Resources Needed: Past client files and proposals
      • Due: 8/30
    • Categorize each service into buckets based on necessity to the core package and type.
      • Resources Needed: My time
      • Due: 9/3
    • Decide on a core package offering that stands alone but is also a lead into upselling other services.
      • Resources Needed: Past client files and time
      • Due: 9/5
  • Put together a comprehensive packaging of those services
    • Put together a full breakdown of what’s included in the core package
      • Resources Needed: list of services and time
      • Due: 9/10
    • Determine “tier 2” packages for customers
      • Resources Needed: list of services and time
      • Due: 9/13
    • Come up with an a la carte menu for other add-ons and services
      • Resources Needed: list of services and time
      • Due: 9/15
    • Creates a sales proposition (copy, who it’s for, etc.)
      • Resources Needed: time and copywriting help
      • Due: 9/23
  • Implement the new packages
    • Identify appropriate pricing structure
      • Resources Needed: computer, time, and research
      • Due: 9/30
    • Add new packages to the website
      • Resources Needed: computer and time
      • Due: 10/3
    • Reach out to existing clients and put them into a package
      • Resources Needed: computer and phone calls
      • Due: 10/15

6. Person Responsible

The last step is figuring out who you are going to make responsible for each of those steps. This helps us tremendously when we do add each action step to our task manager because we know who to assign it to., and who to follow up with if that part is falling behind.

I’m not going to re-paste my steps here, because all of mine rely solely on me to get them done. If you have a team, please make sure you’re not skipping this step.

Tactical Planning Template

I hope you see how helpful taking the time to break down everything into manageable steps can be in reaching your goals. A tactical plan can help you achieve your business goals

You can download this template to use to set your goals and create a full tactical plan.

tactical planning template

Tactical Planning Template

Grab the template for this tactical planning exercise so you can build this as you go through the post.

Success - the toolkit is in your inbox!

There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again.

15 Actionable Ways to Get New Clients [Or Your First Client!]

how to get new clients

I’ve been asked a lot recently how I ended up getting my first client.

The truth is that I had very little to do with this AND I had no clue what I was doing.

[Read more…] about 15 Actionable Ways to Get New Clients [Or Your First Client!]

How to Get Started With Brain Dumping in 2021 [+Templates & Tools To Make it Easy]

Wait, you’ve never done brain dumping before?

Stick with me kid, because this is going to CHANGE things for you.

[Read more…] about How to Get Started With Brain Dumping in 2021 [+Templates & Tools To Make it Easy]

30+ Awesome Gift Ideas for Entrepreneurs & Small Biz Owners [2021 Edition]

Best gifts for entreprenrus

Entrepreneurs are people too. But we are a different kind of breed. Risk-taking, late night working, early morning hustling people who like to create and build stuff. It’s not unreasonable to think that the gifts we want and need might be a little different than the average bear.

Here is a list of the top gifts for entrepreneurs, so you can get that special person a decent gift. Some of these links are affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission for referring you to the product or service, but in no way does it cost you more.

[Read more…] about 30+ Awesome Gift Ideas for Entrepreneurs & Small Biz Owners [2021 Edition]

The Best Places to Learn Online in 2021: Online Business Courses for Free (or Cheap!)

online classes

It’s a new year, are you ready to learn something new? The beauty of living in the era of the internet is that there are SOO many free and cheap ways to learn ANYTHING you could ever dream of with online courses — especially now when we have a lot of extra time on our hands.

But there is also so much information you need to make sure you’re actually learning the right things and not just learning something that doesn’t make sense.

A lot of colleges and universities have their courses online for free (without the degree status at the end, of course), but there are also a ton of other places you can learn online.

This is my attempt at aggregating these sources for you so you can make the best decision for you.

Contents

  • 1 Coursera
  • 2 Udemy
  • 3 Skillshare
  • 4 Creative Live
  • 5 Masterclass
  • 6 LinkedIn Learning (aka Lynda.com)
  • 7 Go Skills
  • 8 Experfy

Coursera

With Coursera, you can take college and university level classes from your living room…for free!

If you want to get the actual certificate, you do have to pay. But if you just want the knowledge (if you work for yourself, do you really need that piece of paper to prove it?), then you can get going for free.

Some examples of courses I’d love to take are:

  • Engineering
  • CSS, HTML and Javascript
  • Innovation in Business

Udemy

I’ve taken multiple courses on Udemy. They have everything from a branding course by Gary Vee, to marketing with Seth Godin, to learning how to speed read.

The screenshot above shows you just some of the ones I’ve signed up for and taken.

The courses are often around $10 (some are even free), so you can get started pretty cheap!

Skillshare

Skillshare is pretty cool because they offer all kinds of courses. The difference with this one is that it’s a monthly membership type of model.

However, they’re almost always giving away two free months for new users. So this one actually is free to get started with.

They offer tons of relevant courses, like:

  • Freelancing and Entrepreneurship
  • Learning Google Analytics
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Productivity

Creative Live

Creative Live is a place where you can learn all kinds of creative things, like Photoshop, photography, and web design.

Masterclass

If you spend any time on Facebook, you’ve probably seen this one pop into your News Feed a few times.

Masterclass is like Udemy but with the cream of the crop in their industries.

Although, these classes seem to be more high-level strategy type classes, whereas the likes of Udemy are going to go step by step through a specific skill.

You can learn cooking from Wolfgang Puck, Business from Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks), and Entrepreneurship from Sara Blakely (founder of Spanx).

Pretty cool!

LinkedIn Learning (aka Lynda.com)

I was always a huge fan of Lynda.com. Their courses were very well done, the content was awesome, and the teachers were people you can actually relate with.

LinkedIn Learning is the new brand of this platform but it’s just as great if you ask me. You can learn things like Google Analytics, Digital Marketing, and more.

edX

Go Skills

GoSkills is a newer one for me to have learned about, but they offer good stuff.

It is a monthly subscription, but similar to Skillshare, you get a free trial to see if you like it.

Some example classes are:

  • Microsoft Office
  • Finance
  • Evernote
  • Google Drive
  • Public Speaking and more.

Experfy

Experfy has a great platform for learning things like Microsoft Excel, Access, Google Sheets, and Analytics. While the courses do come at a cost, they often run promotions and have high-quality learning platforms.

This one is seemingly for the more “nerdy” types (shoutout to my homies!)

They teach really big topics like Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Software Development, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Pretty cool, but definitely a niche market.

What other ones are you a big fan of? Any I missed?

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