Strategic Visioning & Business Planning Seminar
Strategic Planning is the foundational work any small business needs in order to have clear vision and objectives for its future. It is the root of viability and a step many small businesses skip over. Strategic planning in action provides entrepreneurs with a strong philosophical and practical base upon which daily and monthly decisions can be gauged. This course will introduce the methodology of a strategic visioning practice that uses a SWOT-alternative SOAR (Strengths Opportunities Aspirations Results), a style of analysis for holistic business and life planning that can be repeated annually. We will introduce homework exercises to create and refine business Core Values, and prepare the group for solo Strategic Plan crafting. We will prioritize and clarify goals and wordcraft annual Strategic Objectives for the business in an intensive seminar of discovery. We will introduce how business planning dovetails with strategic planning, and provide templates for agricultural-based business plans. We will also introduce a business planning ”lite” tool the Opportunity Map, a complement to this work and an instrument for enterprise and general transitional business decision making less focused on crafting narrative.
The eventual outcome of this training will be a 1-page articulation of Mission Statement, Strategic Objectives, Core Values, and an Action Plan for achieving the Strategic Objectives through detailed tasks. Our goal will be to empower producers with the skills to perform this exercise alone in future years or moments of transition. This seminar will include small breakout groups, time for live workshopping of strategic plan elements, and include some required pre-work.
NOTE: this workshop is geared towards producers either getting ready to or having already embarked on a new business or enterprise, or those already in business but new to strategic planning and visioning that want to introduce the practice to their annual reflection. It is also appropriate for those looking to take their new business or enterprise ideas from seed to plan.
Contact Olivia Tincani at olivia@oliviatincaniandco.com with any questions.
EDUCATOR BIO:
Olivia Tincani is a food and agriculture business educator and consultant with over 20 years of experience in the field. Olivia Tincani & Co. provides business, financial, strategic planning, and leadership training for small-scale independent food and farm businesses and the institutions that service them. She has specific expertise in entrepreneurial empowerment for farmers and ranchers, program and curriculum design, facilitation, livestock businesses and whole animal supply chains, and community building. An ambitious spirit infuses her teaching and consulting, inspired by her personal entrepreneurial endeavors. She is currently designing or executing farm business and leadership training programming for the Intertribal Agriculture Council, The Quivira Coalition, The Conservation Fund, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glynwood, and Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance. She is the co-founder and program design lead of the Grazing School of the West, a multidisciplinary nonprofit providing education, vocational training, and advocacy in prescribed livestock grazing for land stewardship, wildfire prevention, climate resilience and adaptable food & fiber systems in the American West. She has deep history in food business operations as the co-founder of landmark joint restaurant/farm enterprises Farm 255 and Farm Burger in the rural southeast, and food service design and management company Just Fare in the San Francisco Bay Area. She served as a Business & Communications Strategist for 8 years for Rancho Llano Seco in Chico, CA. She has served on the Advisory Board of the National Farm Viability Conference and was a founding Board member of Kitchen Table Advisors. Olivia splits time between Sonoma County (CA) and her friend’s organic rice farm in Maremma, (Italy) where her tiny family is based, with her hands in the dirt and her skin in the game.