If nothing else, developments in the e-reader market provide substantial fodder for online commentary. It seems that every week features a story in a mainstream publication about the latest "Kindle killer" followed by endless chatter and eager speculation in blogs and on Twitter.

This week's discussion centered on Barnes & Noble's "Nook" device. It's not hard to see why this particular device sparked such discussion. The slick-looking device has unique features, such as the ability to "lend" books that friends can view on multiple platforms for 14 days, use of Google's Android operating system, and a small color touch-screen.

I very much like Barnes & Noble thinking outside its business model box. The company has been aggressively seeking to find new paths to revenue and growth, an appropriate approach given the challenges facing its core business.

So will the device be a huge success? Will Amazon's early e-reader success with its Kindle offering end up looking analogous to early success by Rio and Creative in the MP3 market before the emergence of Apple's iPod?

The answer to both questions could be yes. But in reality, those questions are simply impossible to answer for three reasons:

1. No one knows what consumers will do until they actually do it. Barnes & Noble's device will appeal to some consumers for sure, but will it lead early adopters to ditch their Kindle? Does it have enough features to attract the next class of potential customers? As a Silicon Alley Insider commentator wrote, "Amazon is obviously designing to real user needs and covering the gameboard. B&N is fiddling around with goofy stuff that might just be crazy enough to work."
2. No single device will "end" e-reader battles, whether it's from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Plastic Logic, or another competitor. Amazon is quite likely to have further devices in its production line. Does Barnes & Noble have anything else up its sleeves?
3. No one is quite sure what Apple will do in the space. There's significant speculation that Apple will introduce a $500-$700 tablet early next year. The company's history in the computing, music device, and smartphone market suggest watching this development carefully.

There are other wild cards out there as well. Amazon could decide to change its entire strategy, shifting from producing devices to emphasizing an easy-to-use platform that enables people to access the content they want on multiple devices. Time Inc. is leading an effort in the magazine industry to create an "iTunes for magazines."

Online chatter doesn't determine the outcome of competitive battles. Let's see what happens as consumers vote with their wallets, further details about product pipelines emerge, and circling giants like Apple unveil their plans.

It never hurts to have a role model, and this morning, small businesses that use social media were pointed towards not one, but five.  Kogi BBQ, the Marsh Cafe, Duke of York's Cinema, Wiggly Wigglers, and Howies have all made great strides in this area.

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One of the cornerstones of the E-Myth philosophy is the need for strategic planning. The fact is that most small businesses fail to grow because they lack a strategic plan to realize their vision. And if that were not distressing enough, another fact that plays a part in this failure is the lack of effective implementation once a plan is developed.

When considering your strategic plan, the first question you must answer is what, exactly, do you want to accomplish? Once that has been determined you will then need to develop your strategy for making it happen. As the old adage goes, “Plan your work and work your plan.”

Planning Your Work

For a small business, a strategic plan is essentially a step by step guide to map out how it will reach goals and objectives. It starts with a vision of what the business will be and how it will function in the near future, typically 3 to 5 years out. The plan also serves as a systematic management tool for implementing the strategies. The goal is to integrate every aspect of the business into a systemic approach for achieving the vision of the business.

Although individual strategic plans may differ in some of the details, here are 10 basic elements that should be part of every plan:

• Define your mission, your vision and your values
• Conduct an analysis and resource assessment
• Establish your goals and objectives
• Determine your strategies for accomplishing your objectives
• Conduct your action planning
• Create your organization and staffing plan
• Develop an operating budget
• Create strategic tools to measure and quantify progress
• Identify the support needed to accomplish your mission
• Communicate your strategic plan to the entire organization

One of the keys to successful strategic planning is to involve everyone in the business, to some degree, in the planning process. Employees are vital to the strength and success of any business enterprise, and the business owner alone cannot effectively run the business – nor carry out the strategic plan.

Working Your Plan

Now that you have your strategic plan, how do you implement it effectively? This is the fate of far too many small businesses – creating a beautiful document that eventually ends up in a file collecting dust while the business stumbles along much as it always had. What’s often missing is effective communication of the vision and strategies to the employees, and the ability to translate strategy into tactics.

Often referred to as action planning or tactical planning, this phase of the strategic planning process is crucial to implementing the overall strategy of the business -- for bringing the vision to reality. A tactical plan drives the execution of the strategic plan across the entire organization. As each department completes their action plans to work “on” the business, they accelerate the success of the strategic plan.

A tactical plan essentially lays out the plans and procedures for getting to the defined strategy. It will involve the scheduling of immediate or short-term activities that  are required to achieve the objectives of strategic planning. For example, let’s say your strategic plan is to become a market leader in gourmet organic foods. The tactical plan might include hiring a well-known chef as the brand ambassador for the company, setting up a retail store in an upscale area of the city, and obtaining an organic food certification.

Aside from the specific plans for each function of the business, documented procedures and systems will be required to ensure their effective implementation. The tactical plan might specify the following:

• The goal, or result, to be accomplished
• How the goals will be achieved
• How these goals contribute to the overall strategic goals
• Timelines for achieving the goals

Leadership and Communication

It is true for professional sports and it is true for a successful business: if an objective is to be reached and the strategic plan carried out for reaching that objective, then someone has to “be in charge” and everyone needs to know the “game plan”.

The bulk of the leadership role in many small businesses falls upon the owner or owners. The bottom line, whether it is the owner, a manager, or a key employee, is this: someone must take the reins for seeing the strategic plan through to completion. And a large part of the accountability for that leader is implementing and orchestrating effective communications with everyone involved. Having a communications strategy is essential for the successful implementation of a strategic plan and the subsequent tactical plans.

According to an article in the Graziado Business Report published by Pepperdine University, the following keys are critical for a communications strategy:

• Developing a big-picture communications strategic goal. You mission or vision statement will be helpful here.
• Clearly defining your communications objectives. These may change over time or in some areas, so appropriate adjustments will need to be made.
• Identifying critical communications tactics. Ask the question, “What do you want to get where?” This can provide data for feedback and evaluation.
• Creating a feedback system. Real-time information of progress compared to objectives will allow for needed adjustments or improvements.

A strategic plan is essential to the success of any business, but how it gets implemented will determine how successful the business becomes. Having a clear vision isn’t enough – you must also have clear objectives, a strategy for attaining them, and the tactics and communications to see it through.

Share Your Story

Do you have a strategic plan? How do you communicate that plan and keep on track. Post a comment and tell us about it.

We Can Help You Get There

One of the most common frustrations we hear from our clients is that they can't seem to get their head out of the business long enough to work on the strategic planning that's so important to the ultimate success of their businesses. If you're one of those business owners, we invite you to contact us today for a free Business Consultation and to learn more about working with an E-Myth Business Coach.

This is a post by guest blogger Janet Sparks. It is cross-posted on Blue MauMau.

After seven years of legal wrangling with conglomerate Cendant Corporation, a jury has awarded Robert C. Halcro, a franchisee of Avis Rent A Car System, $16 million in damages.

A judge had previously ruled that the Avis franchisor had "unequivocally" breached its agency settlement agreement with Halcro’s company Alaska Rent A Car, when it acquired and continued to operate competitor Budget Rent A Car. He stated that the only issue to be determined was whether Alaska Rent A Car had been damaged, and if so in what amount.

On October 1, 2009, after two hours of deliberation, the jury awarded damages to the 50-year veteran franchisee declaring:

We, the jury, based upon the preponderance of the evidence, unanimously find the following verdict on the damages suffered by Alaska Rent-A-Car Inc., as the proximate result of the breach by Avis Budget Group, Inc. and Avis Budget Car Rental, LLC in the following amount: $16 million.

In hearing the verdict, Halcro said, "We won big. This goes to the core of the American franchise system. Big franchisors shouldn’t be able to get away with what they are trying to do in going against the small franchise operator." He said he felt fortunate that he had the money to battle in court, that most small business people don’t have the resources. "I spent almost $7 million fighting this franchisor, but I don’t care. I came into the world with nothing, my family is okay financially, so to hell with them. I’ll march on."