Tips To Writing Your Strategic Planning Document

The plan of a business has just come into your mind and you are all set to implement your business plan. Well, this is a very good thing but whether the business is big or small there needs to be a business plan i.e. a business strategy in place, so that one can visualize the pros and cons in the business that one is undertaking. Most importantly, envisioning the course the business would take 5-6 years from now is very critical. It is a general trend that when you are first timers at starting a business most of the times the concept and thought is very much in place, but it is not put down on paper. It’s very important that you put down everything on paper as you can quickly check and infer the points that you are missing out.

Through this document you will be easily able to gauge the kind of money you will earn through your business venture. Not only this, your business strategy will be your prelude to the planning of your human resources, the investment on the logistics, investment on future expansions, basically everything will be chalked out and notified in your business strategy. Your this business strategy are the stepping stones for your strategic planning document of your business.

This strategic planning document or in other words the strategic plan is different from the Action plan of your business. They are entirely different documents and the motives of both these documents are completely serving diverse functions. The strategic planning document contains the important points which will make your business a success. Nowhere has it highlighted the plan of action to be undertaken to achieve success in your business.

For a new business a strategic planning document is very essential as it portrays a very professional work culture to the company and its employees. Also, every time a new client is approached it gives a very proficient and efficient outlook. Making a strategic planning document can be very demanding as you have to write down what your company stands for. Your values, beliefs and work culture everything needs to jotted down. To begin, start by writing your company’s mission statement. This would be a short declaration of what your company should be remembered for. This should encompass the services which your company offers, the kind of customers that would come to you and most importantly your company’s USP which sets it apart from the others in the market. It can be in one sentence or a combination of 2-3 sentences.

Next in your strategic planning document would be your company’s Vision statement, as to where do you see the company 5 years down the line. This would be your strengths, past work experiences, customer bases and past work experiences. This would be followed by your company’s value statement as to the values on which your company stands, your company’s ethos and customer relationship values. You must incorporate words like integrity, loyalty, expertise, creativity etc.

When you are formulating your business strategy, a very important factor which must never be ignored is carrying out a SWOT analysis of your new company. This is basically notifying your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses,
opportunities and Threats. Well, for a new business it is little difficult to carry out this analysis as with working experience you are able to gauge the problems and hitches that one comes across in the business. But then you can per-empt a few problem areas so that you can be prepared for them upfront.

With time as you work and your business begins to grow, your Strategic Planning document will change. A few items will get deleted and a few will get added. You can review your document on a monthly or a quarterly basis depending on the new projects that get added in your company. Every business and every business scenario is different, yet the above mentioned points will be most likely common to all businesses especially when you are starting a new venture these points will be good start points. If you further need insights into best practices in strategy and executions visit our website at www.strategy-keys.com and enrich your knowledge base further.