stages and OGSM explained
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when to start
Our approach aligns with your growth and funding stages. This table gives an idea of what needs to be ready at each stage to minimise unnecessary costs early on, while maximising your funding potential and growth.
OGSM
At start: Not yet recommended.
Towards end: Objective, Goals and Strategies with some initial actions.
STAGE
PRE-SEED
SEED
SERIES A
BRAND
Show confidence and excite with initial versions of: A vision and story, value proposition, ICP iterations, brand name, look and feel/moodboard
Before pitching: ICP, value proposition, brand values, messaging, look and feel.
At start: The full brand has to be ready, incl. story, personality, guiding principles, visual identity, messaging. Brand strategy aimed at market dominance.
Before pitching: Full OSGM including the go-to-market strategy.
understanding OGSM
The vision of where you want to be at the end of a specific period (usually 1-3 years).
Or the point at which your plan is completed.
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​Seemingly impossible to achieve, made possible by OGSM.
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​It gives direction, ambition and motivation.
​Easy to understand and remember, touching both mind and heart.
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​The objective provides direction for the entire OGSM: Everything else follows from this, which means agreement within the team is required.
OBJECTIVE
Quantification of the elements of the Objective.
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Monitoring progress towards the Objective ensures you are heading in the right direction and staying on schedule.
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It also ensures all stakeholders have the same understanding of the specific words in the Objective.
GOALS
Objective and Goals
define what you want to achieve. In principle these do not change.
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Strategies and Measures
explain how you will get there.
The main steps needed to reach the Objective.
They can be inspired by the SWOT.
These are the decisions about how people, budget, and time are used.
Each strategy is assigned to a person or team and becomes their main goal.
They know that by achieving this goal, they’re making a key contribution to the overall organisational objective.
Up to five strategies; because doing fewer strategies well is far more effective than juggling many and leaving them unfinished.
STRATEGIES
EXAMPLE OF A VAGUE OBJECTIVE
Our goal is growth, with innovation playing a crucial role across areas like production, marketing, communication, and packaging.
In each of these fields, adapting to consumers and their evolving needs is central to our approach.
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Explanation
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Seems clever, but is vague and not involving
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Open to multiple interpretations (evolving needs, adapting)
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Could be applied to any business
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No "What" by "How"
EXAMPLE OF A GOOD OBJECTIVE
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(WHAT) At the end of 2027, Redbury Chocolate is Spain’s chocolate brand of choice for connoisseurs with a conscience
(HOW) BY developing a sustainable co-ownership model for every stage of sourcing, production and marketing.
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Explanation
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Inspiring and motivating
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Specified target group
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Very specific for Redbury Chocolate
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"What" by "How" format
In English this term refers to both a measurement and an action.​​
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We divided Measures into
two parts:
– a Dashboard
– an Action Plan
MEASURES
Quantification of the elements per Strategy.
Ensuring all stakeholders have the same understanding of the specific words in the Strategy.
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Monitoring progress of the strategy:
Are we heading in the right direction? Are we on schedule?
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Although the Objective and Goals stay unchanged, you can change the road towards them: the Strategies and Actions.
The Dashboard gives criteria for go/no-go decisions and corrective actions.
MEASURES – DASHBOARD
The smaller, more concrete steps to realise each Strategy.
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Thoughtful decisions:
– how each team invests their time and uses their budget
​– what a team will do, and what they will STOP doing
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Each action has:
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the name of the person responsible to drive (not necessarily implement) the action
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A due date
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A budget
MEASURES –
ACTION PLAN
REDBURY chocolate
EXAMPLE
Redbury Chocolate is a brand we wish really existed, with a mission to make top-quality, ethically produced chocolate accessible to everyone.
By the end of 2027, Redbury aims to be recognised as the go-to sustainable chocolate brand for connoisseurs who care about the impact of their choices.
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Their unique approach involves engaging communities, ensuring transparency in their supply chain, and offering co-ownership opportunities to those passionate about chocolate, sustainability and excellence.
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This example illustrates the comprehensive structure and scope of an OGSM but does not include all the goals, strategies, and measures required for a complete OGSM. The numbers are solely for demonstration purposes and may not reflect entirely accurate or realistic values.
download the pdf version here
the visual structure of an OGSM
