October 18, 2024 | Blog

2025 is just around the corner, and there are a few more months before we welcome another year.  Businesses are now gearing up for new opportunities, and  IT Group, Inc. (ITG), the leading IT Solution Partner in the Philippines and ASEAN region, shares how to do strategic planning for the coming years. Achieving goals, creating new ones, and hitting targets are all part of the change we want to incorporate and see in the coming years. But to do that, we must prepare for our goals and know how to achieve them. 

IT Group, Inc. Shares How to do Strategic Planning in Business and Tech

1. Review, Reassess, and Realign

2. Define Your Business Goals

3. Research and Analysis

4. Diversity, Exclusivity, and Inclusion Plan

5. Let’s Plan and Venture for 2025 Together

Review, Reassess, and Realign

Knowing where you stand in your business goal is important. Before digging into the following year, review your current performance from previous years to check whether there’s growth and if, by any chance, there is a deficit you need to catch on. By doing so, you allowed your company to check and balance where the opportunities to improve, what processes didn’t work, and what the best practices can stay. ITG, aside from being an IT Solution Partner, is also a business consultant. With renowned tech partners ITG has, you can be assured you can have outside opinions with objective evidence of where your company stands. To have an accurate way of reviewing your company regarding data and analytics, ITG, with the #1 Cloud ERP, Oracle NetSuite, can have 360-degree visibility of your company. 

Also read: ​​Tech and Business Insights for 2024 

Also, MBO Partners shared the importance of basic but crucial assessment and reiterated it as a foundation for doing a proper review. “Conduct a SWOT analysis: Next, perform a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT analysis can be a helpful way to understand where your business is positioned and how to plan for the year ahead,” said MBO Partners. “For example, if you’ve identified a new market opportunity, your 2025 plan can focus on capturing that market. Conversely, recognizing a potential threat, such as an emerging competitor, will allow you to strategize accordingly.”

Define Your Business Goals

When defining a goal, it should be as crystal clear as possible. Why? Simply, it becomes the anchor or benchmark for the coming year. But before doing so, creating specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound or SMART business goals still relies on your past plus current performance over your long-term goals. As every business is created to make profit revenue and provide jobs and opportunities, financial goals are always on the top of the list when making a business plan to ensure growth and continued success.

“Financial goals are the foundation of your business plan. Without clear objectives, measuring success or allocating resources effectively is challenging. To define financial goals for the coming year, set revenue and profit targets, and budget for growth,” said MBO Partners. “Establish realistic revenue goals based on past performance and current market trends. Consider factors like seasonal fluctuations, economic conditions, and industry developments. In addition to revenue targets, set specific profit margins and cash flow objectives to ensure your business remains profitable and financially stable.”

Research and Analysis

Another crucial part of a strategic plan is researching and analyzing your company. Research current trends, news, and what’s on the market that might help you and your business in terms of new tech, policies, and even laws to comply with or look after. On the other hand, the analysis explains more of where your organization stands in your industry, local area, and even global markets and standing.  

To stay ahead in your business, a proactive approach, anticipating disruptive change, and doing mitigated and risk-based plans are part of the overall business plan that ensures security and growth. For example, in the Philippines, the so-called Ease of Paying Tax (EoPT) Law requires companies to transition from a manual to a computerized accounting system through BIR CAS. Without prior knowledge or research on what’s new and upcoming, companies may get billed for penalties for non-compliance with the law. And the process of transitioning from manual to computerized accounting will take time and money. It’s hard to comply on time without proper research and analysis of what software and IT Solution partners to trust.

Also read: Do’s and Don’ts When Your Business Starts to Expand

With ITG with the #1 Cloud ERP, Oracle NetSuite, tax compliance, especially in the Philippines, is much easier and more secure to proceed with. Oracle NetSuite, more than an ERP software, is also a business management solution offering accounting software in the Philippines and the ASEAN region. Proper research and analysis can save your company from future trouble, like tax penalties and late compliance.

Diversity, Exclusivity, and Inclusion Plan

Earlier this year, ITG shared what’s coming for 2024, one of which is DEI or diversity, exclusivity, and inclusion. Even though businesses are created for profit and revenue purposes, people, especially employees, will always be the heart and soul of any organization. Success is incomplete without people who are supported and cared for. 

“As much as technology drives businesses and vice versa, investment in people will remain the greatest asset of any company. For companies to thrive and reach their business goals, they should have the right people—regardless of age, gender, sex, social background, ethnicity, and race—to help them lead the way,” ITG said. “Businesses in 2024 should find the balance between workforce, diversity, inclusion, and the use of technology for business management. After the pandemic, many companies reassessed their management, focusing more on being future-proof companies and ready whenever “economic downturns, environmental events, war, global pandemics, or the emergence of a disruptive new competitor” happened unexpectedly. 

For a company to be successful, it must ensure to have career road map ready, a safe space for recognition and celebration, plus inclusive benefits that promotes better retention rate, inspired employees, and better work-life balance culture.

Risk-based Mindset

When the pandemic hit the world, all businesses were affected in one way or another.  Four years have passed, and many companies anticipated the global impact of a pandemic—one of many natural disruptors in the world. So, the shift toward risk mitigation and business continuity and resiliency continue and fortified with that kind of experience. “It’s no longer about companies surviving the pandemic, it’s about offering flexible arrangements, valuing employees’ time and harnessing the potential of a global workforce,” Bernard Marr, a Forbes writer, columnist, and book author renowned for his tech insights and future trends said. “But employers are also ensuring that they retain the ability to work with geographically dispersed teams and attract talent from anywhere in the world. For these reasons, we’ll see the number of job postings with “remote” or “hybrid” locations remain well above pre-Covid levels throughout 2024.”

Also read: Transitioning from Manual to Computerized Accounting

The end goal when with risk mitgaton mindset is always to ensure safety and security of business continuity and all the people involved to make the business up and running. Finding those potential risk in your business can save you time, money, and man power in the long haul. “Maintain flexibility in your business plan to quickly adapt to new opportunities or challenges. This might mean revisiting your strategy quarterly and making necessary adjustments based on the latest data and market conditions. Regular reviews will ensure your plan remains relevant and responsive to any changes throughout 2025,” said MBO Partners. “Strategic planning is not just about setting goals; it’s about creating a roadmap that guides your business through the year’s opportunities and challenges.

Let’s Plan and Venture for 2025 Together

Excited to expand your business? We are too!  ITG, with its technological partners, is here to help and support your growing business needs. With our solid expertise for over 20 years, ITG is ready to help you welcoming 2025 prepared with strategic plan and boost your business through digital transformation.

ITG is your leading technology partner for system-wide innovative solutions to accelerate your business plans and goals, delivering seamless integrations and processes, from Business Management Solutions, IT Management, Integration & Automation, and Enterprise Data Management to IT Infrastructure.

Meet us today.