It doesn’t matter what type of business you are in, strategic planning is necessary if you want to win. If you are in a competitive industry, it’s even more import. When people think of strategic planning, they often think of business plans, marketing plans, and hiring the best consultants. But sometimes there are things that business owners and executives will miss. I’d like to discuss this with you for a moment, and use an example of an automated truck wash company for my case study here.

Now then, it probably wouldn’t matter where the truck wash was, it could be anywhere in the country, because much of the same information is apropos regardless of location. Below is a strategic plan which I came up with for a new automated facility washing trucks, and it is a little different, in that the system is completely robotic, and doesn’t require any hand washing or human labor. Because of this, it will have slightly different market segment targeting, as independent truck drivers who have really nice polished-out rigs probably don’t want to drive them through an automated wash, they would rather have it hand washed. Okay, go ahead and read the outline below, and it will have a quick chat;

Strategic Planning – Strategic Objective: Increase Volume

-Increase Truck Wash Volume from Over The Road Trucks Off Highway
-Maximize Local Fleet Business to Red-Line Limits of Capacity on Non-Peak Periods

We will increase High Way Traffic volume utilizing the following strategies:

-Visible Signage
-Advertising at Truck Stops in all Directions fleet management sale within 250-300 mile radius
-Create a Rewards Program for Truck Drivers
-Create a fast-loading “web-page” for mobile users with information, coupons
-Direct Calls: All LTLs, Trucking Companies, & Companies Hauling Their Own Goods
-Communicate with Dispatchers – Collect Phone Numbers from Drivers

We will dominate the truck wash market share for local fleets by:

-Advertising Full-Reclaim Environmental Washing
-Low Cost High Volume Fleet Programs
-Bidding on Local Government Contracts
-Sending Out Blitz Teams with Flyers and Personal Sales to Companies with Fleets
-10% Discount on Fleet Washing with Proof of Current Competitor Invoice
-Free Coffee
-Co-Market with Truck Repair, Towing, Truck Sales, & Truck Service Companies

Now then, if you are preparing your own plan, regardless of what type of business it is, this is the way in which you should attack it. First, you need to prepare an outline, as I’ve done above. Then you should write a paragraph for each point of contention. Then you should think about how best to go about that. In other words, how to do it most efficiently and for the least amount of money, while always remembering your objective, in this case; to increase truck wash volume, and dominate the market share by signing up local fleets. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.