There are roughly eight key functions that drive any business: planning, leadership, sales, marketing, people, operations, legal and finance. For any business, large or small, ensuring that all of these critical elements remain in harmony can be a challenging and complex task. It takes careful planning, big picture thinking and, most importantly, time.

Taking the time to develop a deeper level of strategic planning and organization can produce positive results throughout all areas of the company from employee retention to sales and revenue, according to Vincent Mastrovito from Prometis Partners.

Prometis helps business owners build more value in their company through strategic planning and developing a succession plan for long-term health. MMA members can now take advantage of the MFG Value Growth Services and receive 10 percent off succession planning, valuation and other services from Prometis.

So, what does the evaluation process look like? First and foremost, there need to be change agents in key positions who will implement any new strategies. This is something that really begins with senior leadership, so that’s typically where Mastrovito will start.

“The formula is, if you have a written (strategic plan), is it really obtainable and does everybody agree with it?” says Mastrovito. “Most importantly, the senior leadership team needs to buy into what the strategic plan is.”

Starting with that 30,000-foot view, businesses can then drill down to each department’s internal processes, people, continuity with other departments and results. Going through the process creates a clearer understanding of operations and how that’s impacting the bottom line. Mastrovito says it’s a domino effect once you start looking at individual departments.

“Once you have one department aligned with your broader strategic goals, then you can move on to the next,” he says. “You can say, okay, what is our marketing plan? What’s our sales strategy? What’s our people strategy? And, most importantly, are all of these things aligned?”

To get the right answers, there is a lengthy discovery process. Depending on whether a company is large or small, Mastrovito says he could ask 30 or 300 questions to get to some of those critical root-cause issues.

“You're really just trying to find out where their risk is at, and then how do we address the risk and how do we get them to where they really want to try to go?” says Mastrovito. “It takes a fair amount of effort because they have to want to do it. If they want to do it, then it'll be a lot easier to implement.”

Ultimately, the goal of these efforts is to improve communication, identify inefficiencies and create a positive impact on the bottom line either by cutting waste, growing sales or both.

“Once you iron some of those things out then you start to see your sales increase,” says Mastrovito.

So, whether you’re leading a Tier 1 Supplier or a small tool and die shop, taking the time and effort to develop strategic goals and internal alignment will have positive results in the long run. Not only will you have a better understanding of business operations but you’ll have a better understanding of what to do next in order to grow and thrive.

See Member Benefits to learn more about how MFG Value Growth Services, powered by Prometis Partners, can help you plan and secure your company’s future or contact MMA’s Brenda Nalett at 517-487-8512 or nalett@mimfg.org.