What is a Planning Session?

How an in-depth analysis of your business can help you reach your goals.

 

One of the services we offer through our sister company, OneSource Business Solutions LLC, is process called a “Strategic Planning Session”. The Planning Session is an in-depth review of the health of your business. We will be able to determine ways to increase growth and profits by examining all aspects of your business. We understand that Business Owners are often caught up in the day-to-day rigors of the business, without time to plan for the future. Let our Business Analysts at OneSource Business Solutions LLC, make your job a little easier.  

If you wish to proceed with the Planning Session, you are provided with a 51-page Business
Development Questionnaire.  The questionnaire will include a myriad of questions specific to your business, as well as require you to provide information about your marketing/advertising, competition, and many other factors that are part of, or affect, your business as it stands today.  This part of the process can be very enlightening, as it will likely pose questions that you may not have ever taken under consideration.  This is not a bad thing.  In fact, taken together, it will provide the core for solving the issues at hand today, as well as developing a plan to grow your business to levels that you may have envisioned when you first started out.  The BD Questionnaire will take about 10 days to complete, working at it each day.  In addition to completing the survey, we will also anonymously survey your employees, if appropriate, as their opinions’ play a role in the development of your company.  We will also survey clients that are identified to us.  As a third-party company, they will likely tell us some things that they may not tell you, and this information is important to the process.

Once we receive all of this information, our team here at OneSource Business Solutions, which will include CPA’s and business advisors, will analyze the data and begin to develop a picture of the company, based on this information.  The research will culminate in a Planning Session Day, held at an off-site location such as in a hotel conference room, with the date and time being agreed upon at the beginning of this process.

The day generally lasts from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.  Of course, we will provide the food and refreshments.  OneSource Business Solutions LLC will staff this meeting with a facilitator and an additional business consultant, who will also participate in the Planning Session and we will record the entire session, as each part of the meeting is of vital importance.

The Planning Session is broken into four parts.  In the morning, we generally will have only you, the owner, and any designated management privy to the financial matters of the company, present.  Here, we will discuss the finances of the company.  We will include the evaluation of any financial data pertinent to the process.  In the Second Phase, about mid-morning, we will begin the discussion of issues and questions created from our analysis of
the provided data.  It is at this point that we may introduce some key employees, or those selected by you, to join us in the meeting and provide opinions and information on topics brought to light by both Phase One of the meeting and the analysis of provided information.  Generally, this part of the process will take us to lunch.

During Phase Three of the meeting, we will conduct an S.W.O.T. Analysis. This stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  This part of the meeting is very informative, as we will discuss strengths that you were aware of, as well as strengths that you were not aware your company has.  This same approach holds for our discussion of weaknesses.  Some of the weaknesses you will likely be aware of, and others you may be surprised to discover.  The strengths and weaknesses will be brought out by the initial phases of the Planning Session.  Part Three of the SWOT is a discussion on opportunities.  Here we will discuss the opportunities available to the company for growth, as well as opportunities to correct some processes and procedures that may not contribute to the ultimate success of your company.  Part Four is a discussion of the threats to your company, its growth, and its future.

The final piece of the puzzle, and the ultimate deliverable product of the process, is the development of the Action Plan.  This Action Plan is specifically a series of steps, with associated timelines, and expected measurable results that, when followed and achieved, will lead your company to meet and exceed the expectations set out at the beginning of the process.  This expectation should mirror your vision of what your company should be.

Ultimately, the Planning Session will condense what could be several years of consultation into a one-day discovery, allowing you to get to work on issues that will lead to a quicker turn-around and earlier success than can be accomplished through conventional consulting.  This is the reason that we endorse this approach.

OneSource Business Solutions LLC is conveniently located in downtown Lancaster. If you are interested in booking a Planning Session, please contact us at 717-824-4291.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. You should not act or refrain from acting based on any information contained herein without seeking the advice of an attorney.