Ever found yourself staring at an endless list of projects, wondering which ones are worth your time, money and energy.
You’re not alone. When faced with dozens of potential initiatives, it’s not always easy to pick the right ones to focus on.
This is where a Value Creation Plan (VCP) comes in.
Think of it as your roadmap for identifying and executing the handful of key projects that will actually move the needle for your business each quarter.
A VCP forces you to get specific about what matters most. It can help you…
- Accomplish big wins quarter after quarter
- Zero in on your most important goals
- Ensure your team is aligned and productive
- Keep tabs on your progress, and adjust course as needed
Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to make your VCP.
How to Make Your Value Creation Plan
Start by making a list of 5-10 meaningful projects that could boost your business. For each one, ask yourself these 5 questions:
- Impact: What’s your best estimate of the quantifiable impact?
- Difficulty: How hard will it be to execute?
- Possible risk: What could go wrong (and how likely is that risk)?
- Time to implement: How quickly can you get it up and running, realistically?
- Cost: What’s the price tag?
These questions will help you compare opportunities objectively. When you’re all done, you’ll end up with a list that might look like this:
| Initiative | Potential impact | Difficulty to implement | Possible risk | Time to implement | Cost |
| Give personalized product recommendations | +10-15% increase in sale | Hard. Requires machine learning setup. | Moderate. Poor recommendations could give users a poor experience. | 4-6 weeks | $15-$30k |
| Develop our own mobile app | 15-25% increase in sales | Hard. Requires significant tech & design resources. | Moderate-high. Poor execution could damage brand image. | 2-3 months | $50k-$150k |
| Implement a loyalty program | 8-12% increase in repeat purchases | Medium. Requires integration with current systems. | Moderate. Poorly executed rewards may not entice customers. | 1-2 months | $10k-$25k |
| Ramp up content marketing & SEO | 12-18% increase in organic traffic | Medium. Time consuming to create content. | Low-moderate. Possibility for penalties if done incorrectly. | 2-4 weeks to launch, 3-6 months for results | $5k-$20k |
| Optimize the checkout process | 5-10% increase in conversion rate | Medium-low. A redesign could require tech and design resources. | Low. We’ll split-test this, so we’ll only implement winning changes. | 3-5 weeks | $10k-$20k |
| Add chatbots to product pages | 5-8% increase in “add to cart” clicks | Medium-low. Training the bots with product info will be time consuming. | Low. Some customers may not appreciate automated support. | 2-4 weeks | $10k-$25k |
| Begin international expansion | 15-30% increase in overall sales | Hard. Lots of legal and manufacturing hurdles. | High. What if the increase in sales doesn’t offset the increased cost? | 3-6+ months | $50k-$200k+ |
| Move to a new marketing agency | 5-25% increase in sales from paid ads | Medium. Requires meetings and long onboarding. | Moderate. What if the new agency is worse than our current one? | 4-8 weeks | No change in cost |
| Move to sustainable/green packaging | 2-4% increase in sales from improved perception | Medium. Need to source, purchase, and update messaging. | Low. Little downside aside from cost. | 3-6 weeks | $8k-$25k per quarter |
Next, you’ll want to cut down your list to 5-6 initiatives max. Any more than that and you risk stretching your team too thin.
Don’t worry—you’re not giving up on any initiatives that don’t make the cut. Remember this is a quarterly exercise, which means anything that you don’t slot for this quarter might still be a great option for the future.
Real-Life VCP Example with SafeSleeve
When we acquired SafeSleeve, one of the key initiatives I wanted for our first 90-day VCP was transitioning our paid ad management to the Smart Marketer Agency.
Here’s what that row looked like in my VCP:
- Initiative: Move paid ads management to Smart Marketer Agency
- Impact: Estimated 10-80% improvement in paid ad performance
- Difficulty: Easy, due to my existing relationship with the agency
- Risk: Low, due to my familiarity and trust in the Smart Marketer team
- Time: 30 days to full implementation
- Cost: On par with our current agency spend
This move was a no-brainer for 3 reasons:
- I know just how crucial paid ad campaigns are to growth.
- It was a low-effort, low-risk move.
- I was confident the Smart Marketer team would give us a significant performance boost.
I wasn’t disappointed. The results were exactly what I was hoping for—as I knew they would be.
Structuring Your Team for VCP Execution
Your VCP is only as successful as the team executing it. You’ll need a team structure that allows for clarity of roles and responsibilities, with clear communication from top-level strategy down to day-to-day tasks.
Here’s the structure I use:
- C-level executives are responsible for hitting the metrics associated with each item on your VCP
- VPs make sure the C-suite has what they need (think of them as the bridge between strategy and execution)
- Directors and managers own specific projects and delegate tasks to ensure smooth operations
- Team leads and individual contributors handle the day-to-day work
Obviously, this will vary based on company size. You might just have your C-suite with VPs and individual team members. Or maybe you have C-suite with team leads and team members. Whatever makes the most sense for you. Then as you grow, you fill in the gaps.
I hold weekly check-ins with my leadership team to discuss progress and make sure we’re on track. If I learn that we’re behind schedule, I work with the C-level exec to figure out the source of the problem. Then it’s their job to work with their team to make sure it’s executed.
Here’s one last tip: keep direct reports limited to 5 (or 8 at the absolute maximum). More than that, and it becomes hard to manage those reports effectively.
Now, Create Your First VCP!
A VCP helps you take your strategic vision and chunk it down into actionable goals that will drive growth every quarter. To sum up the process, here are the 5 big-picture steps to creating your first VCP:
Step 1: Identify Key Initiatives
Write down 5-10 things that could be game-changers for your company this quarter. It could be anything: hiring key staff, changing your agency partner, launching a new product—whatever you think will move the needle.
Step 2: Prioritize Initiatives
Evaluate each initiative against the 5 metrics mentioned above: impact, difficulty, risk, time, and cost.
Step 3: Select Up to 6 Initiatives
Narrow down your list to the top 5-6 things with the highest impact and the lowest downside. This will help keep your team from getting overwhelmed and ensure they have enough time and focus to complete each goal effectively.
Step 4: Implement Your VCP
Consider weekly check-ins with your leadership team to review progress and clear any blockers.
Step 5: Review and Adjust Every Quarter
Every time you create a new VCP, take time to assess the previous quarter’s results. This can help you adjust future plans to allow for continual improvement.
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Thanks for reading, and best of luck with your Value Creation Plan!
