If you’re a business owner, you’re running your own show, so chances are you’ve put together a business plan. But have you given it enough attention?
- Do you consult it regularly?
- Have you updated it lately?
- Does it include digital strategies?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of those questions, read on.
What’s a digital business plan?
Think of a digital business plan as an extension or layer of your regular business plan. This added layer articulates how digital initiatives can contribute to the success of your consultancy business.
Why is it important?
The need to review and tweak business plans increasingly regularly has become a universal necessity because of the rapidly changing world we live in. Most markets these days are characterised by flux due to fast-moving technological developments – we need to stay on our toes if we want to keep up. A digital business plan recognises this reality and builds digital strategies into the way we work.
Where do I start?
Don’t throw out your existing plan. Your values, mission, vision and so on are likely to hold strong.
Here are some ideas for areas of your business plan that should include a digital focus:
- Finance: cloud-based accounting
- Marketing: online presence (your own website, industry-specific platforms, social media); SEO and paid advertising; email marketing; content strategy (blogging, webinars, white papers, etc) – you know, all that stuff our team sort out for our clients here at Ironbark Marketing
- Client relationships: online networking; social media engagement; digitised customer relationship management (CRM)
- Operations: cloud-based filing; online security; automating processes
Once you begin, you’ll see plenty of opportunities to extend what you’re already doing in the digital space. Remember to keep returning to your plan – digital business trends and tactics keep evolving, meaning there’s always room for you to push your business further.
Need help getting started? Find out about how our team at Ironbark Marketing can help.