Focus: Strategic Planning I

Develop a Strategic Plan for your business with the purpose that it will be a tool to guide your business over the planning period. Without a road map, your business is going nowhere and has no direction. Don’t have ‘knee jerk’ reactions. Instead, use specific business objectives and critical information to guide your decisions. Your Strategic Plan should also lead your business to a Succession Plan and Exit Strategy. This plan should be developed with the key stakeholders in your business.

A strategic plan has 5 sections:

1.    Executive Summary of Your Business- a high level overview of your business that is completed at the end of the planning process.

2.    Company Background, Milestones & Strategic Objectives- see Strategic Planning II

3.    Marketing Plan to Support Strategic Objectives- how the objectives will be met from a marketing perspective for all parts of the Marketing Mix:

·       Product

·       Price

·       Place

·       Promotion

4.    Financial Plan to Support Strategic Objectives- financial models for all initiatives to include profit & loss statements, return on investment and ongoing financial reporting.

5.    Human Resources Plan to Support Strategic Objectives- business objectives will not be met without the critical human resources in an organization. Nothing is done without the people, so this is a KEY part of the planning process.