In the first part of this three-part series of blogs, we discussed one powerful strategic planning principle from Brian Tracy's book The Way to Wealth Workbook, Part III: Blueprints for Success. That principle was the idea of clearly defining your company, your market and your competitors. In Part 2 of this blog series, we will get into a second crucial idea from the book.

Explore the nuts and bolts of some changes.

In the first step, your team hopefully identified some opportunities you haven't taken advantage of, as well as some weaknesses your competitors could exploit. These are your indicators that it's time to make some changes; the next step is to explore how those changes would work.

Start by examining ways in which you could reorganize your business.

• Could you hire some people to handle tasks in which you're falling behind?
• Replace some people with workers who would add more value to the company?
• Bring someone up into a management role, so they can oversee an area in which they're an expert?

These are all ways in which you could reorganize your business and some of them may create competitive advantages for you. Analyze the costs and benefits of each possible reorganization, and you might find some quick and easy solutions.

Next, examine some ways in which restructuring your business might help you fix weaknesses or exploit advantages.

• Could your team approach a certain process in a different way, shave off some steps, and free up time for more profitable activities?
• Could you shift more of your staff's hours and energy to the 20 percent of activities that generate 80 percent of your profits?
• What are some other ways in which you could shift company resources from idleness into profitability?

The answers to these questions can suggest some more involved solutions, but those restructuring efforts may prove to be worthwhile.

Once you've examined ideas for restructuring, move on to things you could reinvent. If your business burned to the ground and you had to start over, would you do everything the way you're doing it now? Are there some processes, activities, services, or even entire departments that could do with a complete ground-up overhaul? This prospect can seem intimidating, but it might be worth the time and effort you put into it, especially over the long term. Small amounts of waste and inefficiency can add up over the years, and you might be glad you fixed the problem while it was still containable.

Lastly, explore what might happen if you reengineered each step of your business activities.

• Are these activities you could simplify, or steps you could cut?
• Could you save money by outsourcing certain activities?
• What if you simply eliminate some of your activities altogether; would that cut into your bottom line, or free you up to focus more on that profitable 20 percent?
• What if you discontinued a certain product or service? Would it hurt your company or save you money?

Check out the math and follow where it leads.

All those questions will give you hints about what needs to change in your business. They'll provide the raw materials for Part 3 of this series, where we'll explain the final crucial step in strategic planning, from Brian Tracy's book The Way to Wealth Workbook, Part III: Blueprints for Success.