CREATIVE SOLUTIONS MEDIA

COMPANY

STRATEGIC PLAN

2015 -2025
 Table of Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................................3

Executive Summary...........................................................................................4

Background and History....................................................................................4

Direction and Results........................................................................................5

Goals.................................................................................................................6

Organization of the Strategic Plan.....................................................................7

Vision................................................................................................................7

Mission..............................................................................................................9

Core Operating Values......................................................................................9

Underlying Service Assumptions......................................................................11

Customers..........................................................................................................11

Summary of SWOT Analysis............................................................................12

Strategic Direction.............................................................................................14

Goals Areas........................................................................................................14

Double Years Strategic Focus Plan...................................................................17

Conclusion.........................................................................................................19

References.........................................................................................................20

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The Creative Solutions Media Company Strategic Plan

Introduction

The Board of Directors and Staff of The Creative Solutions Media Company received

assistance from several consulting agencies that they would like to thank and make mention

of, in no particular order of thanks - Ceregal Consulting Agency, Monomotapa Consulting

Agency and Emergence Consulting Firm.

This Strategic Plan as laid out in this document serves to provide Creative Solutions Media

Company with a ten-year roadmap that aids in supporting and bring about a clear

development of the organization at large.

The Board and staff will be held responsible for the quarterly review and necessary updating

of the plan as is required.

The writing of this plan was supervised by several board members and a team of our staff

from the management team. This dedicated Committee met on numerous occasions to ponder

and chart the way forward for the company, including the laying down of the organization’s

mission, vision and core values.

Each of the different agencies participated on different days and helped come up with the

finalized concept document that you see before us. Monomotapa Consulting Agency was

especially responsible for the internal assessment of the company which included

interviewing community stakeholders and doing analytical work needed for the SWOT

analysis. All the work done by Monomotapa Consulting was then processed again by Ceregal

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Consulting Agency to help assess the potential problems and opportunities that will arise in

future and over the course of the next ten years.

Executive Summary

The Creative Solutions Media Company mission is:

Through training (coaching) and mentorship in areas of SEO, application development, sites

and social media, help companies effectively use the internet

Background and History

Creative Solutions Media has very humble origins, like most companies. Two undergraduate

students who enjoyed computers, writing code and hanging out with people successfully

started this company in 2009. Today the organization works hand-in-hand with the leading

companies across industries in the country to provide technical training and teaching to their

respective staff. Creative Solutions delivers the most practical teaching assistance to help

computer teams within companies manage their company’s online portfolios from start to

finish.

The manifold operations that Creative Solutions Media Company engages in include training

in-house computer teams how to manage their company’s online presence, how to use SEO to

their advantage and how to continue generating profitable leads from the company’s online

presence. That’s not all. Creative Solutions goes above and beyond the call of duty by

partnering a client company’s computer team with one of our very own highly skilled trainers

to act as a mentor to walk with them along every step of the way. In a bid to give back to

community, Creative Solutions has a summer internship program for those who are interested

and takes time to go to schools and do talks about the importance of computers and people

choosing tech related work, whilst providing a scholarship program for those from
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disadvantaged backgrounds. On numerous occasions Creative Solutions has been awarded

social contribution awards and commended for its work among the youth.

Direction and Results

The direction, goals, and plans laid out in this document are in response to what Creative

Solutions Media believe their clients are after and also what they appreciate the most about

the company.

The time frame for this plan is a rigorous time of taking into account all factors and deepening

the way Creative Solutions as a company does its work.

Understanding its niche area, its mission and the role that it has will allow Creative Solutions

Media to engage in the strategic direction as laid out below:

1. Continual improvement in the teaching and training methods will ensure that Creative

Solutions stays at the top of their game and are able to work efficiently and as best as they

can.

2. On-going assessments that look into the client – teacher relationship will be reviewed often

to see if any changes can be made to the service delivery thus allowing the company to

expand by bringing in more services

3. Creative Solutions is highly committed to working with other teaching institutions in order

to learn the most recent techniques and teaching tools to aid in their company trainings.

4. Working with youth is of great importance to Creative Solutions especially those interested

in computer science and are in university, so the company will be pushing to see more and

more youth join the summer internship program run by Creative Solutions

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5. The financial aspect of the company is important, so over the coming years Creative

solutions will be looking into building a sustainable maintenance fund that covers all the

overhead costs of running the company.

Goals

The goals laid out in the following part of this document serve to illustrate the company’s

response to key pertinent issues that were observed in the environmental scan conducted by

Monomotapa Consulting Agency in the planning stage of this strategic document. The goals

outlined here serve as a North Star, a guide to the realization of the strategic plan.

Service Delivery

Creative Solutions Media will work in partnership with other teaching institutions to provide

necessary mentorship and timely help for the computer teams of the different organizations

that they work with through strategic one-on-one mentorship with Creative Solutions Media

trainers and round the clock online assistance.

Human Resources

No organization can succeed without a well equipped and motivated taskforce, so Creative

Solutions Media aims to provide a conducive environment where a highly motivated team can

be nurtured and grow so that the company’s mission can be realized.

Resource Development

Operating as a for profit organization, Creative Solutions Media Company will make its aim

and objective the visibility of the brand in order to attract customers with whom the company

can form long term relationships with, which will help sustain and allow the company to grow

into the future.

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In order to attract the type of clients that the company seeks to attract and keep them, the

successful carrying out of the strategic plan laid out in this book is vital. What Creative

Solutions is hoping to achieve is to not only train and equip companies to run their online

media presence successfully but to be able to impact the next generation too whilst they are at

it. Creative Solutions believes in investing heavily into community and supporting and

encouraging the next generation in their endeavors hence the summer internship program and

the scholarship fund for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who would like to pursue

further education in the science and tech related fields. Creative Solutions help to be a force of

change in their community and help touch and change as many lives as they possibly can –

one person at a time.

Organization of the Strategic Plan

Just to recap, the strategic plan of Creative Solutions Media as laid out in this document is

aimed at being a tool through which management decisions may be weighed. The objectives

of this plan are two-fold with the main goal being the systematic laying out of the company’s

plan and its important components. It acts as an accounting tool of the entire thought process

and conclusions that the Board and staff have agreed upon. Secondly, this document acts as

compass of sorts for strategic goal setting. In the ensuing chapters, a section is dedicated to

the definition of the theme of that chapter. This document is the unabridged copy of the plan,

but for its stakeholders, Creative Solutions Media recognizes the potential to look into the

provision of a more summarized version of the strategic plan.

Vision

Empower companies to maximize and optimize the internet through great teaching, training

and mentorship
15-Year Vision for Creative Solutions Media Company

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Context

The world as we know it will have significantly changed digitally and technologically in the

next 15 years. A lot of new companies will have been formed and old ones may have closed.

If you want to see just how fast things can develop think just how old or shall we say how

young, some of the biggest names in the online world are today? Facebook? Twitter?

Whatsapp? Can you believe that Facebook is only eleven years old; Twitter is only nine years

old and recently acquired by Facebook. Whatsapp is also only nine years old? Yes, a lot of

people will be using the internet and as almost unbelievably difficult it is to imagine, there are

some places on the planet that will just have gotten their first internet connection to the rest of

the world, so our work will never be over. In fact, if ever there was a time we would be

needed, it would be in the future.

Role and Program Services

Creative Solutions Media Company is one of the leading experts in their industry and as such

work diligently to meet and service the needs of the wide client base. To narrow it down,

Creative Solutions Media: - Identify the problem areas that computer teams within companies

face and seek means to address those problems using the best technology around.

Collaborates with leading institutions and discusses with the finest minds the way forward for

internet based problems that companies occasionally encounter, whilst also promoting and

encouraging companies to invest into the future of the youth by running internship and

scholarship programs that cater to young people coming from disadvantaged backgrounds

with interests in the sciences and technology field.

Using the leverage they have garnered over the years, Creative Solutions Media works to

advocate amongst their peer companies to really be engaged in the youth activities in their

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communities. Creative Solutions Media have on numerous times been awarded honors for

their efforts in helping to improve the community in which they live and work in.

Funding Sources

Operating as a for profit organization Creative Solutions Media relies on its own efforts to

meet all its needs. However for its summer internship program and scholarship program, the

company partners up with several community organizations to help share the responsibility of

investing into the future of the community youth.

Mission

Creative Solutions Media’s Mission is:

Through training (coaching) and mentorship in areas of SEO, application development, sites

and social media, help companies effectively use the internet

This mission is straight to the point, direct and clearly states what Creative Solutions is all

about. It shows how the company if fully engaged with the client company from start to finish

through inspirational teaching and mentoring until the client’s computer team feel that they

are fully efficient to run things on their own.

Core Operating Values

The values below are almost set in stone as they hold the structure of the company together,

they are if you will the heart of the company. Creative Solutions Media prides itself in holding

itself accountable to the high standard and ideals that it has set. Attempting to live up to

something great is more honorable than never attempting for fear of failing. So the values laid

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out below are what Creative Solutions looks to when it talks about company culture and the

manner in which the company behaves in community.

Respect – We don’t believe in the adage that says, ‘In order to gain respect you have to earn

it’ we believe in respecting and honoring everyone from the littlest child to the oldest of

persons. No matter who walks through our doors, regardless of sex, age, gender, background,

our first call of duty is to be as respectful as we can and seek to meet your needs. Our motto is

always, ‘How can we help you?’

One-on-one Mentoring– Individuals learn differently. Our small teacher-client classroom

settings allow us to focus more on the individual and them grasping the computer systems and

concepts that we need to impart to them, that is why our mentors work closely with their

assigned students until every person in the group has not only grasped the concept but

mastered it too.

Integrity & Accountability – Before all else comes honor. We value our integrity above all

else, because we believe in doing things fairly and squarely and by the book. This is how we

intend to achieve our mission. It may take us longer but we want to offer something of value

to our clients.

Top Level Teachings –Mostly focused on teaching and training what will set us apart from

the crowd is not only the quality of our teaching but the quality of our trainers. We value both

aspects of teaching and training – quality work and quality trainers.

Partnerships – We believe that the community is the first teacher and we step in to complete

where community ended. Nothing is ever done in isolation, so we strongly believe in

partnerships as evidenced by the numerous partners we work with in all our community

projects.

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Underlying Service Assumptions

Specific basic beliefs regarding the best means to help computer teams in companies guide

the way Creative Solutions Media conduct all their work. The company believes and asserts

that:

•There is nothing that our trainers are incapable of teaching and imparting to their students

• All people deserve to be respected regardless of age, sex or background

•Making a difference in people’s lives is one of our main objectives

• We listen to each and every individual because we believe and assert that everyone has a

right to speak and be heard

•Without discriminating, we try to foster a holistic working environment that encourages

people to enjoy the work they do

• We assert that there is a lot of good that comes from getting involved with the young and

we will continue to do so, encouraging and promoting them in any way we can

Customers

Our main clients are companies whose computer teams are in need of help with how to make

their companies more visible online and how to promote their companies using SEO approved

means that are tried and tested and work time and time again. It is these people that are our

supporting customers and need to continuously engage with them in order for the company to

accomplish its mission. These clients are Creative Solutions Media’s primary customers.

Summary of SWOT Analysis

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The SWOT analysis – strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats conducted by

Monomotapa Consulting Agency will help clarify some very important issues for us and help

us see how they will be addressed.

Strengths

The first obvious strength that has been recognized time and time again is the genuine care

and concern that Creative Solutions Media has for the community. This alone sets the

company apart from other organizations within its niche area because not only does Creative

Solutions Media deliver top of the class quality teaching but it also seeks to raise and

empower the next generation of leaders by looking for ways to empower them. Secondly, you

cannot find a better staff anywhere. The staff at Creative Solutions is on a level of their own,

unrivalled passionate people who love making a difference in other peoples’ lives whether it

be training graduate students in corporate settings or afternoons spent teaching internship

students the ins and outs of the industry. And of course, the spotless reputation of the

company is like icing on top of the cake.

Weaknesses

The company is somewhat limited in just how fast it can grow, because finding the right

people with the right combination of heart and skill is truly a challenge. Having skill is not the

most difficult part, but finding people with great heart to serve in the company. Some have

seen this as a factor that actually limits how fast the company can grow. But those in

management argue that the value of the company lies not in the product but in the people the

company enlists, so this is an area that will not be compromised upon.

Opportunities

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The service that Creative Solutions is offering is one that has been requested by many

business people in towns across the country, but as it stands, the company is still in its early

developmental stages and does not have the capacity to reach out into other towns and have

permanent staff there that stay and monitor the progress of the students there. However, if

Creative Solutions were to consider sending a team to set up an office in another town the

implications would be massive.

Firstly, it would make more people aware of Creative Solutions as an online SEO mentoring

and training company that does more than just teach company tech people to generate more

leads but is also a company dedicated to community outreach and bettering the community.

This in turn would draw more attention to the company and work in their favor as more and

more people become aware of them, drawing more people to want to partner with them, and if

more people partner with them then more children can be sent to school through the

scholarship program.

Threats

Things that were thought of to be most dangerous were:

The potential problem of being understaffed is a real threat. Whilst the company is still in its

growing phase the number of staff are appropriate and relevant to the needs of the company,

but if the company is to grow then bringing more hands on deck is something that needs to be

seriously considered. Creative Solutions prides itself on delivering one-on-one mentorship so

if this were to be compromised it would totally affect the balance of the entire system.

More companies are entering into the industry and this offsets the balance that was there,

because these newbie companies are undercutting the established media firms like Creative

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Solutions and it seriously affects the profit margins and as such the effects are felt all through

the company.

Strategic Direction

When everything is taken into consideration (core values, mission statement, and S.W.O.T

.analysis) and analyzed it shows that the next ten years will be a time of serious reflection and

strengthening the foundation that has been laid so that Creative Solutions can move ahead

with the work that it set out to do.

With continual review, the company will keep adding to itself more knowledge, and working

on being the best in the industry. The plan that has been laid out here is one that demonstrates

just how Creative Solutions are going to work hard to see this vision of being an industry

leading teacher of SEO systems fulfilled.

Continual assessment by Creative Solutions will keep showing them new areas where they

can grow and new services they can offer, where and how to also improve their own systems.

With this taking place the company will be working hard to make sure that they continue to

deliver quality teaching as they also move to try and become more visible in other towns by

growing and expanding.

Goals Areas

Goals and objectives will aid in seeing the strategic direction come to pass.

Service Delivery

In order to fulfill the companies’ objectives, Creative Solutions Media has set up support

systems for their clients.

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Objectives: A. Comprehension of The Industry’s SEO mechanisms

1. The clients should be able to understand the basic concepts of the internet and how it ranks

companies online.

2. Happy clients make good students.

B. It’s Not Just Classroom Learning

As part of the curriculum, the client’s computer team gets to have one day where they go out

as a team and do team building activities. Creative Solutions added this important part of

teaching to their training courses when they realized how most work situations are tense and

most people don’t seem to think they can enjoy their work or the company of their colleagues

when the opposite is true – they just never got a chance, so Creative Solutions creates that

chance for them, and nine out of ten people discover something new about a colleague they

never knew about, and with time even work relations within that company begin to improve.

C. Clients should learn to give back to community

More often than not, clients come back and are so thankful because their entire computer team

seems to be doing better and the online work they do seems to be generating more profit. In

return Creative Solutions asks such grateful companies to look into sponsoring a child through

school or even donating to the scholarship fund.

Human Resources

In order to achieve all its monumental tasks, Creative Solutions looks into developing its own

staff first and foremost. Staff that is dedicated and super motivated and can work with

minimal supervision in order to realize the company’s mission.

Objectives:

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1. be able to not only bring on board the best people possible but be able to convince them to

stay.

2. Understanding of the job and mission should be a given for all staff members.

3. Be concerned with the continuous growth of your own leaders by focusing on developing

leadership skills courses for them.

Resource Development

Work well with other companies so as to foster good relationships that will in turn lead to

potential partnerships for the scholarship program and other community development

programs.

Objectives:

A. Foster good relations

1. Focus on building relationships with client companies because everything is done through

the vehicle called relationships

B. Focus on the youth

1. Send in teams to speak to university and high school students on career days, schedule talks

at their schools to simply open their minds to the world of science and technology and all the

potential work scenarios they may have never thought of

C. Fundraising

1. Through the collaborative efforts all the partners involved, look to raise at least

US$2million for the scholarship fund every year by hosting different fundraising

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 events such as golf tournaments amongst corporate people and dinners promoting

corporate social responsibility

Double Years Strategic Focus Plan

In order to focus and zoom in on the necessary activities every year, the goals have been

categorized below for easy reference.

YEARS SUMMARY OF ACTIVITIES

Phase one of plan implementation takes place

Departments of Administration and staff have to be reorganised

Set up Finance Department

Resource Development

Create a position for someone to come in and be in charge of this department

Communication plan and Strategic plan must align

3&4 Service Delivery

Capacity for the administration team must be built

Directors must be one with the team and supervise effectively

Nurture business partnerships for the scholarship programme

Human Resources

HR to handle employment issues and continued staff development

Resource Development

Launch fundraising lunches and dinners and golf tournaments

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 Develop company maintenance plan
5& 6 Service Delivery

Continue work to develop staff training programs

Strengthen and nurture existing relationships and build new ones

Human Resources

Strengthen existing staff committee structure

Resource Development

Continue with ongoing fundraisers for the scholarship program

7&8 All Goals,

Continuous development of action plan is required

Service Delivery

Marketing must be aggressively looked into

The ongoing development of the company’s teaching programs is vital

Human Resources

Staff development is a major focus especially for all mid level staff

Resource Development

Continue to strengthen partnerships with donors towards the scholarship

program
9 & 10 All Goals

The sustainability of all activities is crucial, look into stabilizing them

Look into the last ten years and see what lessons have been learnt and plan

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 again for the future.

Set a new strategic plan in place

Conclusion

The strategic plan that has been laid out by the Board and Staff will go a long way to helping

Creative Solutions Media achieve and realize all its laid out goals and objectives for the next

ten years for the importance of a strategic plan can never be underestimated nor undermined.

It is the North Star that guides the ship to the shore safely.

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