Starting an RTO business in Australia can be an excellent idea. You can make great profits from it while also helping many students by providing them with VET qualifications and training. Currently, the education sector recruits more than 1 million employees in Australia and is worth $20 billion in export. 

However, managing the finances can be very complicated to handle, and thus experts recommend taking help from RTO consulting services. Reading this blog can help you implement strategic planning to achieve success with your RTO business.

What is an RTO?

In Australia, registered training organisations (RTOs) are responsible for offering VET courses to students and are approved by the ASQA (Australian Skills Quality Authority). Top-quality vocational training and education play a critical role in the development of an industrial framework. Students can gain knowledge and get equipped with technical skills, with which they can make significant contributions to the workforce and national skills shortage.

What are the two different plans required to manage an RTO?

Usually, all RTOs must have two types of planning – business planning and strategic planning. These plans, which include planned projects, information, budgeting, work roles, help an RTO manage the delivery of its VET courses. 

Business plans

Business plans contain essential information related to business operations. The information includes:

• Marketing activities
• Profit and productivity targets
• Training activities
• Time frames and deadlines
• Cost estimates

Strategic plans

On the other hand, strategic plans are different from business plans. Organisations develop strategic plans intending to achieve success in the long term. The information included in these plans are:

• Future business goals, both immediate and mid to long term
• Major projects to undertake 
• Resources necessary to carry out business operations
• Organisational structure
• Performance measures
• Time frame and deadlines
• Information and reporting systems

How can strategic planning be beneficial to achieve long-term success?

Currently, we are living in a digital era where workplaces are continuously evolving through different technological innovations. In such a scenario, it will be the strategic planning that can help the organisations deliver a strong bottom line. Company officials who are well aware of the services and products their organisation offers to the customers and have in-depth knowledge about what their competitors plan to do next can easily predict and develop important business plans within time. With this quality, they can also get prepared to use future scopes and tackle possible risks.

The business must clearly understand the competitive landscape, global trends, and what stakeholders expect. Once an RTO knows its objectives and mission, it can allocate the right resources to execute that management plan. Through top-quality decision-making, organisations can strengthen their positions in the competitive landscape.

In addition to financial achievement, strategic management can also boost the employee’s confidence. When the goals are set, the authority can involve the employees in different company activities, increasing the performance of both business and employees.

However, only planning and executing strategic management plans is not enough. To stay on the top, organisations have to review and analyse the results of their strategic approach continuously. A continuous assessment helps an RTO or any other business firm perform following their blueprint, thus responding well to fast-changing marketing trends.

How can you effectively implement strategic planning in your business?

There are multiple stages associated with strategic management planning and execution. Even though the results can differ according to different businesses, you can follow a step-by-step procedure to put those plans into practice.

Step 1: Strategic intent

If you want to achieve success with your RTO strategic planning, you must first have an effective strategic intent. It means you have first to set various organisational goals and use them as a benchmark to analyse performance and progress. The vision and direction of an organisation should be specific and actionable to be easily measured. When the vision is clear, an organisation can list their future business focus, shareholder wealth, profitability, or market leadership.

Step 2: Formulation of strategy

In the next stage, you will need to formulate the strategy to review the company’s financial health by carrying out SWOT analysis. Basic features of SWOT analysis include the following.

• Here organisations conduct a forensic examination to get an idea of the environment in which they are running their business, both externally and internally. 
• This analysis focuses on several parameters like company opportunities, strengths and weaknesses, and potential threats. It helps them understand what they should do to improve their business and their competitor organisation’s advantages.
• It will, in turn, help them develop strategies on how to get to the top while responding to evolving market scenarios. 

Step 3: Implementation of the strategy

Once a complete assessment is made, it is time to implement the strategy. For your strategic management, you should first have an organisational blueprint. For the survival and growth of your company, the plan should be executed properly. As per estimates, a large number of organisations fail to implement their strategies successfully. For success, you will require:

• Allocating resources
• Setting up structures
• Overseeing change management
• Evaluating risk management strategies
• Developing project management capabilities
• Developing decision-making procedures
• Strengthening competitive capabilities
• Managing human resources 
• Communicating strategy
• Rewarding employees for their performance

When strategic plans are executed, you can explore new opportunities.

Step 4: Strategy evaluation

In the final stage of your strategic management, you will need to assess and analyse the strategic planning and execution outcome. By analysing the performance of your organisational strategy, your RTO can decide whether you should stay on your track or make some adjustments and corrections to adapt to evolving market conditions. It is a continuous process that allows organisations to review performance metrics and introduce interventions if necessary.

By evaluating the strategic plan, you can get a clear picture of possible failures and whether you need a change in direction in your company’s overall vision. Regular evaluation of strategies is important to figure out what is working and what is not.

Final words

For developing an effective strategic management system, you can consult any experienced RTO accountant for advice. An accountant can play multiple roles in an organisation, including auditing, budgeting, and management planning.