Strategic planning?? That's not a thing!

Hey Reader, Are you reading all these newsletters and blogs about planning your year? I am too, and I am already fed up with them... and I am still going to talk about it though. Sorry, not sorry 🤷♀️ See, I have seen messages talk about how you should be strategic planning, but I am here to tell you that that is, unfortunately, not really a thing. There is strategy, and there is planning, and yes, those are two different things that cannot be combined. Strategic planning is just planning and hopefully it's planning out things that make sense for your strategy. So I wanted to have a chat with you about the difference and when to do one or the other (or both). Strategy vs planning Strategy Strategy is all about positioning yourself in a way that makes sense to you, your business and, most importantly, your audience. If we are talking about it in board games, it's deciding what game you are playing, who you are playing it with and against and you might even want to decide on some of the rules while others are set. Strategy is very much a theory of how you think you will be serving your customers best. It might be a very good hypothesis, but it hasn't been proven (yet). There is uncertainty, and it isn't controllable. Strategies can fail even though you've done all the actions that fit it. Planning Planning is deciding what actions to take. You can control whether or not you take those actions. The actions can fit with the strategy or just be random things that 'someone wants to happen'. In the board game, it's deciding what action you are taking next to get to your end goal of winning the game. But rolling the dice is also an action, as well as getting the chips... There is a lot more that fits in planning than people realise. Launching a new website, refreshing your branding, hiring a VA to help, and working on your marketing. A lot of times, launching new products actually falls under planning instead of strategy because, in the strategy it has been decided that you are a graphic designer helping wedding planners, and adding pre-made wedding designs just made sense within that strategy. So the action of adding that to your products and services is just planning it out. You can plan out what actions you want to take when, which is where 'planning your year' comes into play. When you need both If you currently have a good strategy that seems to be working and doesn't need tweaking, then that is perfectly fine! And yes, you can then just plan your year or don't do that at all. That really depends on your preferences. I tend not to really plan out my actions any further than 'I want a rebrand and a photoshoot in Q1, ' for instance. If you do feel that you might need to tweak your strategy or even work on a completely new theory, that is totally ok too! Take the time to work out how you are going to help your ideal clients and what they actually need. And yes, that will probably take some time, and it is perfectly fine not to plan out a lot of actions in the meantime. You will be plenty busy with your clients and strategising. And, if you feel like you need some help realising whether you need a strategy or not and what that strategy might be, I am here to help! I would love to know how you are feeling about your strategy and planning right now. Hit reply and let me know. Warmest wishes, Natalie