Creating a Path to Resiliency

Small Business Solutions

By Jerry Creighton, Sr., On Feb 4, 2025

For a business to have long-term success, it must have synergistic strategies and tactical plans prepared to be ready for growth opportunities, planned and unplanned marketplace changes, and business model performance adjustments. 

Many businesses are so overly focused on short-term performance reporting, that they lose sight of industry changes and soon become stagnant. Competitive advantages and market share positions are (at best) only temporary. Look at the demise of businesses that have relied too long on their legacy business models such as Kodak, Blockbuster, Toys “R” Us, and Polaroid. 

Perpetual Planning is a strategic priority that is never complete! It must be performed in conjunction with day-to-day operational activities to “future proof” a business. 

In addition, results will help support due diligence studies needed for such things as preparing valuation justifications, implementing exit strategies, attracting funding sources and substantiating the rationale for partnerships. 

Since change in the marketplace is inevitable, planning for change and opportunities should be a Perpetual Planning critical priority.

Never Stop Learning: There is a pattern for businesses that have succeeded and those that have not. Those that follow Perpetual Planning practices (across multiple time periods) have benefited from better decision-making practices to be more prepared to redirect their strategic direction and tactical execution as needed to strengthen business models, address new opportunities and reduce risks. 

Businesses like Amazon, Apple and Google have evolved their business models and extended their lifecycle longevity by constantly acquiring insight and knowledge about customer preferences, industry developments, and potential solutions for challenges that can strangle a less aware business. 

Just-In-Time Transition Planning (JITTP): The end product of Perpetual Planning is the ability for a business to be flexible, agile and timely, and to determine anticipated performance actions needed to meet current and future visions, missions and goals. 

This includes organizational alignment and budget development requirements bridging the gap for development of feasible synergistic actions needed to link short-term and longer-term operational practices. This creates the path to being relevant for today, resilient for tomorrow, and being a durable business in the long-term. 

Evidence-Based Substantiation (EBS): So many businesses base their future plans on best guessed assumptions. While those assumptions may be anchored on key-person knowledge and experience, they are less risky when substantiated as the output of a Perpetual Planning process – one that includes focused research, trials, and feasibility studies as is applicable for the industry. It produces the basis for substantiated, projectable value-added outcomes that all can embrace. 

Knowledge obtained from Perpetual Planning makes strategic direction decisions more defendable, and actionable tactical implementation less risky. 

About the Author: Jerry Creighton, Sr., is managing member of The Creighton Group, LLC, a business development consulting company based in Randolph. The company’s mission is to enable early-stage business commercialization and to accelerate the growth of established businesses as needed so that they have relevant, resilient and durable lifecycle longevity. Creighton is also the author of “The Quest for Durability – The Business Puzzle Method®.” Please visit: www.jerrycreighton.com.

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