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Effective strategic planning clearly establishes company goals and how you will meet them. It’s not something you discuss once in a meeting and then set aside; it’s an ongoing process with many moving parts. From regular budget checks to sales and marketing alignment to branding, you and your team should periodically revisit the different aspects of your strategic plan.

A Word to the “Whys”

You’re starting 2017 with a whole bunch of New Year’s resolutions for your business, gung-ho about your strategic plan. (Don’t have one yet? Download the one-page business plan.) A great plan has a clear vision and mission, a unique value proposition, measurable goals, and actions with accountabilities.

With rising trends in the medical device market such as 3D imaging and telemedicine, the consumer need for information is higher than ever. This article explains the basics of medical device classification and how to make sure your marketing adheres to FDA regulation.

Launching a new product or service is a significant undertaking for any business. You have invested considerable time, money, and resources in developing a new offering, honed your message and planned out your marketing activities, and you want those efforts to pay off. Although the ultimate goal is to engage your external audience and fuel sales, it’s also important to get buy-in from your team.

High quality product photos are an important asset to your business. Randy Tagg, owner of Tagg Photography, recently gave us a snapshot into his life as a photographer. Randy has 35+ years experience with advertising and industrial photography in a variety of markets. From classy wine glasses to sleek optical lenses, Randy has an eye for elegance among challenging subjects. Launch Team Account Manager Sarah Campagna, a wedding photographer herself, discussed with Randy the artistic and technical experience of capturing images in high tech industries.

This beer and blog was no hardship; Michele met with Tom McCall in beautiful Laguna Beach, near Tom’s home base at ICU Medical. Tom is the VP and General Manager, and has led marketing for medical device companies like Welch Allyn and Masimo. Over a beer (Stone Liberty Cliché Blonde Ale, to be exact), he shared some insights on medical device marketing, sales, and company branding.

The dream of any entrepreneur is to build a successful, profitable business that can survive long after he or she retires. Often the goal is to pass the business down to children or close relatives, as evidenced by the fact that 80% of businesses worldwide are family-owned. In the U.S., family-owned companies are responsible for 60% of all employment and 78% of new jobs.

Despite their prevalence, 70% of family businesses last just one generation before they either fail or are sold. Some common pitfalls can cause problems in transitioning the company down the road.

For today’s Beer & Blog, we spoke with Lisa Belodoff, vice president of business development at Rochester Precision Optics. Lisa has worked in sales and marketing throughout the optics and photonics industry, helping to build LightWorks Optics for successful exit, working in fiber infrastructure at CABLExpress and in medical devices at Masimo. She is a driver of change and growth, and we’re honored to collaborate with her.

Achieve Your Business and Sales Goals

Do you want to expand your marketing outreach? Are you looking to attract more potential customers and improve sales? While the answer may be an obvious yes, cost can often limit these aspirations. However, new grant funding opportunities may soon help high tech and advanced manufacturing companies achieve their growth goals.

Change is a constant. It's in times of change that Launch Team becomes involved with clients, whether they’re going through a merger or acquisition, a new product launch, new market entry, or channel reorganization. External and internal communication in these times of change are key.

Recently we spoke with Jeff Nichols, sales manager at PennWell, the organization that publishes Laser Focus World. Trade publications are valuable in reaching niche audiences like optics, photonics and lasers. Jeff is well regarded in these industries for being both practical and strategic in creating advertising plans. Though Jeff and Launch Team President Michele Nichols are not related, they have served many of the same companies, working to meet their advertising and marketing needs. Enjoying a craft beer (see below), they talked through trends in the optics industry right now.

Last week, we spoke with Greg Gribben and Katie McGuire of Woods Oviatt Gilman about trademark entity discovery during a company rebrand. This week we'll share our conversation about the main intellectual property challenges for companies in their second stage of growth. From exit strategy to working with outside vendors, growing companies have a lot to consider.