Sustainable Strategic Planning

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.
― Dwight D. Eisenhower

Strategic planning means defining the organization’s vision and mission, assessing the key challenges, setting concrete goals and objectives and spelling out what specific tactics it will take to achieve its mission and goals. Strategic planning defines the goal, describes the process, examines the challenges and maps the path forward. It applies to all organizations – public or private. To be sustainable, strategic planning must be practical with achievable goals.

Haisley Millar Consulting Group provides strategic oversight and guidance to strategic, marketing, business, feasibility and operational plans.

Marketing & Marketing Analytics

The typical company rushes along from year to year in frenzied activity without a clear vision of the future and lacking distinctive or superior propositions.
― Hugh Davidson

The foundation of good strategic planning is evidence-based market research. Marketing analytics is the current consulting jargon for the coordination, integration and translation of primary, secondary, managed markets, competitive and environmental insights into growth strategies. Haisley Millar Consulting Group reviews current marketing plans, develops new “go-to-market” strategies and gets involved in their implementation.

Strategic Asset Maps

Asset maps provide information about the strengths and resources of a geographic region, organization or industry. They can serve as the foundation and starting point for an industry or economic region to be able to plan how it will reach its economic goals. 

Asset maps provide a readily understood picture of an industry sector and illustrate the relationship, networks and gaps between research institutions, government agencies, industry groups, investors, service providers and customers.

Funding Growth

Haisley Millar Consulting Group has a long and successful track record in supporting companies, institutions and not-for-profits in the development of competitive applications for public sector or program funding in both North America and Europe.

Funding remains a challenge for all. Government budgets are shrinking and private equity has reached its risk limit. There is an increased need for creativity in funding a research project or bringing a technology to market. The challenges, however, remain essentially the same: the technology developer must present his or her idea in a way which explains the benefit of the technology or idea to industry, or how the idea has value for people’s lives; and there must be a clear path to market and an accurate assessment of the challenges.

The funding process – public or private – is highly competitive with many projects looking at shrinking pots of funds. Getting your “pitch” right is critical.

International Business Development

More than 500 million maritime containers move around the world each year.
― Ban Ki-moon

Vessels large may venture more, but little boats should keep near shore.
― Benjamin Franklin

If you want to establish your company or organization and its products or services presence in the global market, there is one certainty – you cannot do it from your home base. It is also highly improbable that you can do it alone.

To succeed in the international arena, companies need presence, partnerships and patience. Only then can they hope to add the fourth “p” – profit.

Early-stage & Start-Up

The rate of growth depends primarily on three things: the profitability of each customer, the cost of acquiring new customers, and the repeat purchase rate of existing customers. The higher these values are, the faster the company will grow and the more profitable it will be.
― Eric Ries

Most start-ups and early stage companies are under-funded and have over-stressed and over-committed executive management. Many start off “firefighting”, gasping for the oxygen of capital and retain that culture – even when it means the company does not thrive. Locked into this fight for survival, most fail within their first few years.

Targeted, professional presentations for investors, public funding program applications, business and strategic planning, finding new market opportunities and partners, interim management to spread the pressure, and board participation are all areas where Haisley Millar Consulting Group can provide support.