Launch Conference, Part 4: Developing a Launch Strategy

Searcy and Thomas were pretty serious about having a strategy for your Launch. They defined a strategy like this:

A Strategy is simply a logical plan to get you from where you are to where God wants you to be.

They said that a good strategy will clarify and quantify what you’re trying to accomplish. And then they gave us Eight Key Elements of a Start-Up Strategy:

1. Purpose, Mission, and Vision Statement

• Purpose Statement – How you will do it.
• Mission Statement – What you will do.
• Vision Statement – What it will look like to do it.

2. Core Values

• What makes your church unique?
• The Core Values are the filters through which you do ministry and make decisions.
• Ken Blanchard says that no organization should have more than 10 values and as few as 5 or 6.

3. Strategic Aim

• States what the specific aim of your strategy is. What are you trying to do?
• “Our strategic aim is to effectively launch a new church in Great City, USA, on the second Sunday in September, 2007, with 300 in attendance and average 215 people in weekly attendance during the month of October.”

4. Major Objectives

• These are the large objectives of your launch strategy.
• For a church Launch, this includes:

              a. Preparation
              b. Pre-Launch
              c. Launch
              d. Post-Launch

• Eventually you will determine the specific tasks to accomplish each major objective.

5. Goals

• Goals have to be accomplished to achieve major objectives.
• Goals are a subcategory of Major Objectives.

6. Tasks

• Tasks are clear actions that have to be taken
• Determining specific tasks makes it easier to get people to help you. You can be very specific about what you need a person to do.

7. Calendar

• Put all the major objectives, goals, and tasks on a calendar

8. Budget

They made a special note that Objectives, Goals, and Tasks should be S.M.A.R.T.

S – Specific

• All of the statements in your strategy need to be written in as precise language as possible. Avoid generalities.

M – Measurable

• Make sure that you have some kind of gauge for measuring the accomplishment of each objective, goal, and task.

A – Attainable

• Break your statements into small enough bites that each one is realistically attainable. You can stretch, but don’t overextend!

R – Relevant

• Make each statement relative to the one that precedes it. For example, all tasks under Goal 1 should be directly relevant to Goal 1.

T – Time Bound

• Put a projected completion date on every task, goal, and major objective.