Strategic Planning for Nigerian Businesses: Pitfalls to Avoid

Embarking on a strategic planning process in Nigeria demands a discerning eye for potential pitfalls. From overlooking cultural nuances to underestimating regulatory hurdles, the journey is fraught with challenges. In this article, I will show you the pitfalls and provide insights on how to navigate them effectively. I will also share useful information about steps to creating effective strategic planning meetings.  If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or corporate executive in Nigeria, this could serve as a roadmap for you to avoid common mistakes and ensure your strategic planning activities align seamlessly with the intricacies of the Nigerian business landscape.

The Imperative of Strategic Planning

Having a good plan is super important for conducting business in Nigeria. It serves the purpose of a GPS (map) that helps companies not just stay in the game but also adapt to a market where things change frequently. A well-crafted plan is like a guide that shows entrepreneurs and business leaders the way to reach their goals while handling the challenges that come with doing business in Nigeria.

Pitfalls to Avoid in Strategic Planning

Making a good plan for your business in Nigeria is like going on a journey. But you need to be careful and avoid some common mistakes. Like not understanding how different cultures can affect your plan or not paying attention to regulatory frameworks. These mistakes can mess up even the best plans. So, when you have meetings to make your plan, be sure to think big but also think about what happens in Nigeria.

Below are three big mistakes to watch out for when planning your strategy in Nigeria.

1. Lack of decisions based on data

Many businesses in Nigeria rely on intuition, assumptions, or outdated information to make strategic decisions. This can be counter-intuitive and capable of leading to poor or inaccurate outcomes. To avoid this pitfall, you can seek, obtain, and use reliable data for making both internal and external strategic decisions. Investing in market research, customer feedback, and SWOT analysis can give you a comprehensive insight into your business environment. Making decisions based on data can improve your scope of understanding, and help you identify key trends and patterns relevant to your strategy.

2. Over-complicating the strategic planning process

When it comes to strategic planning, many Nigerian businesses create complex and unrealistic processes that are difficult to understand, communicate, or implement. They tend to add more layers, details, or features to their strategy, without considering their value or feasibility to their objectives. This makes it contentious to say that unless strategic planning processes are complex and difficult to implement, many Nigerian businesses would not care. But to avoid this pitfall, you need to focus on simplicity and clarity in creating plans that seamlessly align with your operating model and culture.

3. Resistance and misalignment among stakeholders

Many businesses face challenges in engaging and aligning their employees and other stakeholders with their strategy. This misalignment is often caused by different expectations, interests, or perspectives of both the senior management and their stakeholders. They tend to ignore feedback or input from their stakeholders. In many cases, they fail to consistently communicate and explain their strategy intent with clarity. As a result, they face resistance in their attempt to push through their objectives. To avoid this pitfall, you should consistently and effectively communicate your strategy to all relevant stakeholders, including your employees, customers, partners, and investors. You should also seek to involve your stakeholders in your strategic planning process and solicit their input and feedback. To effectively secure buy-in, you need to align your strategy with your vision, mission, and values, and demonstrate how it benefits your stakeholders.

By avoiding these pitfalls, you can improve your strategic planning process and increase your chances of success.

Understanding the Key Strategic Planning Processes

The following six-step process can guide you to effectively navigate your next strategic planning meeting.

Define your purpose

The first step in the strategic planning process is to define your purpose. This is usually the reason why your business exists, and what you want to achieve in the long term. Your purpose needs to be clear, compelling, and inspiring, and reflect your vision and values.

Assess your position 

The second step of your strategic planning process is assessing your position and current realities. This is where you take a hard look at your performance and tell yourself the truth about your business. Common questions to ask include: “What is the current state of my business,” or “What are my strengths and weaknesses?” Be sure that your answers are reliable based on the available information and date. This includes information on your performance, capabilities, and resources. You can conduct a SWOT analysis in this assessment stage.

Scan your environment

Successful strategic planning processes begin with understanding the environments within which your business operates. This takes into consideration all the external factors that may affect your business operations. The PESTLE framework can assist you in understanding the impact of politics, economy, society, technology, environment, and legal has on your business. The insights from this exercise must be based on relevant and reliable data. They must also reflect your market and industry dynamics, customer needs and preferences, competitor actions and strategies, and social and environmental issues. In Nigeria, where market dynamics can shift swiftly, this process is crucial for identifying the specific opportunities and threats that may impact your business.

Set goals

Setting clear measurable goals is the cornerstone of successful strategic plans. In this stage of your strategic planning process, you will set the short-term and long-term goals and objectives you want to achieve. These objectives must be specific and measurable. They must also reflect your purpose, position, and environment. This is critical to ensure your goals align with the demands of your Nigerian market and aspirations, as well as your desired outcomes and impact.

Formulate Your Strategy

Creating effective strategies for your Nigerian business requires a deep understanding of the business landscape. You must identify and prioritize the specific actions that can achieve your goals when executed. Whatever actions you choose must be a priority to your business and reflect your company’s strategic intentions.

Execute and Monitor

The best-laid-out plans can fail unless they are executed with discipline. Therefore, prioritize your execution strategy and ensure your actions are implemented with precision. As you execute your plan with your team, keep an eye on your outcomes to ensure they align with your goals. Track and communicate your progress using dashboards, reports, or simple audits to allow for agile adjustment in the ever-evolving Nigerian market.

Relying on the assumption that strategies imported from other countries will seamlessly work for Nigerian companies can be misleading, particularly for businesses new to the Nigerian market. Instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all approach, invest your time and resources in comprehending the intricacies of the Nigerian business landscape. By familiarizing yourself with the five key strategic planning processes highlighted above, you pave the way for a more tailored and effective strategy to achieve your goals. Stay away from the pitfalls outlined earlier by emphasizing simplicity and ease in your strategic planning endeavours.

Conclusion

To create a strategy uniquely suited for the Nigerian market, make simplicity your ally. Keep your approach straightforward, ensuring that every component aligns with the nuances of the local business environment. By doing so, you not only enhance the likelihood of success but also establish a foundation for adaptability and resilience.

If you want to embark on a strategic planning journey that is truly reflective of the Nigerian context, visit our website and learn how we can support you. Your business success begins with strategies tailored to your unique context.