Why Your Climbing Gym Needs Strategic Planning
- gheverly
- Oct 15
- 2 min read
Too often I see businesses across the climbing industry - gyms, operators, and brands - all trying to grow without a decisive roadmap, a clear sense of the resources needed for the task at hand or a realistic sense of where they fit in the big picture. And honestly… It’s a mess. I see a TON of wasted resources, frustrated stakeholders, and opportunities left on the table that removes the potential for a coherent and linked strategy + execution.
Strategic planning is what connects your vision to measurable results. It’s how you align your team, clarify your purpose, and track progress in a way that’s specific, realistic, and achievable - And I don’t see a ton of it
To be fair, that’s because doing strategic planning well is HARD.
What is Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is a facilitated planning process—onsite or remote—designed to define your organization’s long-term vision, short-term priorities, and execution systems. This should not be done ad hoc via email or random disparate meetings, it should be done in an organized way with all the right people in the room. If done right, I absolutely promise you the downtime from work and the expense will be more than worth it.
What a good strategic planning process should deliver:
A clear roadmap
A focused set of priorities that actually move the needle
Accountability systems that ensure progress doesn’t stall
Strategic planning is a critical function for any high-performing business. The culture of your business = your values + your behavior, and if you want a culture of success, having a high-quality & actionable strategic plan is the best possible place to start.
Strategic Planning Implementation
There are 3 key elements to good strategic planning:
Determining your objectives
Defining the project requirements or scope of work needed to achieve your objectives
Implementing a transparent closed-loop follow up process that tracks the success of your plan
Key success factors of your strategic planning process:
Ongoing execution
Buy-in from all stakeholders
Clearly mapped work & accountability
Measurable outcomes
Success is demonstrated, shared and used to motivate the organization and its stakeholders
Adaptability to real-world conditions
Goals are met or exceeded
This process can be done in as little as 2-3 days depending on your team and organization size. Trust me, the more years you do this, the easier and faster the process becomes. The idea is a series of meetings where the team agrees to the big picture goals, determines the highest value work to be done, and puts in place the right accountability systems to track.
At Rise Above, we’ve spent over a decade perfecting a strategic planning process built specifically for high performance organizations — No vague slides, no endless lists, just clarity, alignment, and a roadmap that drives real results. Below are just a few results from our strategic planning clients:
5% reduction in General Liability policy expenses
Personnel as % of revenue down 9%
OpEx down 25% year over year
Clearly stated mission, defined core values, and clearly defined goals & associated action items
8-10% revenue increase year over year
Stabilized operations and delivered 5-year highs in financial performance
Trackable, reportable strategic plan implementation that defined success for the leadership team and the Board Of Directors
Interested in these types of outcomes for your business? Let's talk.
Comments