Pastor Welcome Thamsanqa Mlungisi Dlalisa
As the year starts, I challenge all young entrepreneurs to consider having a strategic workshop in your respective organisations.
This strategic workshop will provide direction for the rest of 2017. All well established businesses have these at the beginning of the year, or at the start of their financial year. This is what makes them successful.
Everything that they do is aligned to a set of goals or clearly defined plan. This means their time is spent on important things that helps them achieve their vision. This culture is what sets successful big business apart from those that are not successful.
At this time of the year, even ordinary people tend to relook at their lives and plan what they want to achieve. This includes a review of the previous years and developing a new plan for the new year. This plan guides activities and projects undertaken throughout the year. It becomes the tool to determine what individuals would entertain or not entertain in their lives. It can be a very important tool to save time and guide your personal time and efforts.
If the above is true and works for both successful big business and progressive individuals, I would like to recommend it strongly to all entrepreneurs across Tembisa.
Having said that, the question is “what is strategic planning?”. Strategic planning is important to an organisation because it provides a sense of direction and outlines measurable goals. Strategic planning is a tool that is useful for guiding day-to-day decisions and also for evaluating progress and changing approaches when moving forward.
Importance of strategic planning
1. It gives a sense of direction and guides all efforts and resources (limited) of the organisation;
2. It saves time, which is an important resource for any business enterprise;
3. It is the tool that any business uses to decide on what to do and what not to be involved in;
4. It channels limited financial resources to strategic areas that leads to desired goals;
5. It helps individual organisations to define its niche or strategic value proposition for itself and set itself apart from its competitors;
6. It is the yardstick to measure progress or lack of progress;
7. It is used to set goals (balanced score card) year-on-year. These BSC targets are small, manageable milestones which leads to achievement of the overall strategic vision of the business;
8. It helps define tactics and projects which will be undertaken by the entreprise at any given year;
9. It helps direct human resource across organsation towards clearly set targets. This ensures that all available skills in the organisation are applied correctly in strategic areas as prioritized in any given year
10. It prevents organisational chaos
When the above strategic sessions are held, it is important to get an outsider (non employee) who will facilitate the session. This way you get a fresh pair of eyes to help you look at your operations critically. However, this person does not have to be costly consultant. It can be professional that understands business management to reasonable degree.
I have started a program called the Joseph Achievers Mentoring (JAM) programme.
The programme is based on Joseph in the Bible who rose to a strategic position as a result of the dream he had. This programme is aimed at supporting all residents of Tembisa. It targets mainly young entrepreneurs, young professionals, university students and high school learners. It offers a range of support initiatives including career guidance, training and mentoring. Many have enrolled to the programme and receive business management training and mentoring. Miss Thandeka Langa, a former learner of Tembisa West Secondary School (class of 2016) and student of the JAM Programme, has won a full bursary to study business management in 2017. In the next issue of Tembisan, I will share more on this story. I challenge you to enroll for JAM in order to propel your business to new heights or even as a student. To register on JAM, send an email to dlalisa.rhi@gmail.com or call the numbers below.
For more information, contact Pastor WTM Dlalisa on 083 395 1165
