The government of Canada has earmarked $4 billion to fund Canadian small businesses with grants and loans to help them become more competitive in the global marketplace. To get approved for this grant, you need to work with a government-certified digital advisor who can help you through the process of creating a digital adoption business plan.
To obtain the $15,000 grant, you will work with a certified digital advisor to create a business plan around digital adoption. The plan will cover two main things.
- Digital Assessment
- Digital Strategy
Digital assessment
Successful organizations are embracing technology and finding new ways to implement it and improve key metrics like EBITDA. With a digital assessment, you will get a 360-degree bird’s eye view of where your company stands across all areas of your business, such as accounting, operations and processes, sales and marketing, and information technology.
The following are the components of a successful business plan assessment:
SWOT analysis: Identifying your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats will help clarify the state of your company. This textbook procedure outlines where your company stands in the marketplace and gives you a great starting point to generate ideas for an action plan.
Identify external issues and business goals: What are your business goals? What are you trying to achieve in the next 3 and 1 years? Break down the external marketplace components and competitors competing with you and your business goals. Then, outline your business model and gain clarity on your current value proposition.
Key technology: What technology are you using? How does that technology help your business, and are there any redundancies?
Roadmap/action plan: What needs improvement in your business? When is it going to happen, and what will it cost? A prioritized roadmap will help get buy-in from your team and increase the likelihood of successful implementation and execution of your business plan.
Digital strategy
You have identified many things that need to be improved or implemented over time. Are there themes to the action plan items? Breaking down all your potential improvement opportunities into themes will help you prioritize and lump similar tasks together, resulting in higher levels of success when it comes to the execution of the business plan.
The following are components of a successful strategy plan:
Vision: The purpose of a vision statement is to clarify what you are trying to achieve with the strategic plan at the highest level. This will align your organization with the objectives set out in the plan.
Strategic themes: Listing out the top three to four strategic themes will help you categorize your action plan items and help guide you to scope the projects that must be executed to achieve your strategic vision.
Solutions and projects: You must dive into specific solutions to your organization’s problems.
What will the solution cost? What’s a priority? There are many ways to solve a problem, but you need to research and compare the best solutions for your situation.
Communication: How often will you communicate with your team, and in what format? In what format will information be shared and saved? It’s crucial to set expectations for communication so that the team can stay aligned and on schedule with the execution of the plan.
Accountability: Who is responsible for what tasks in the execution? Every deliverable you identify in the strategic plan must have someone accountable for its execution. Accountability is necessary because it removes bottlenecks that prevent the successful implementation of plans and help share the load of work between responsible parties.
Measurables: What are the key measurables that you will use to monitor your success and ensure that the strategic plan has been implemented and successful? How will you know this plan worked? Set measures for success while preparing your plan so that you know when it’s working.
Challenges: In boxing, it’s the punch you don’t see coming that knocks you out. Take time to identify potential challenges that could pop up and prevent you from execution. Think about what could go wrong with the plan and what you will do if these challenges arise. The most significant barriers to successful execution are often time, money, and the right people in the right seat to help with the project. Do you have the capacity to execute?
Overall, with a successful digital adoption business plan, you will lay out the foundations for execution. You will work on two main components: the assessment and strategy. If you plan well and work with an experienced advisor like us, we can increase the likelihood of your success by working with you to create a strategy that will transform your business and help you achieve your goals.
Contact Argento CPA today if you have any questions or looking for expert advice. The government will cover 90% of the cost to create this digital adoption business plan and you may be eligible for up to $100,000 as an interest free loan that is not repayable for 5 years. Take advantage of this government program while it lasts!
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.