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What is strategic planning? A 5-step guide

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Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. In this article, we'll guide you through the strategic planning process, including why it's important, the benefits and best practices, and five steps to get you from beginning to end.

Strategic planning is a process through which business leaders map out their vision for their organization’s growth and how they’re going to get there. The strategic planning process informs your organization’s decisions, growth, and goals.

Strategic planning helps you clearly define your company’s long-term objectives—and maps how your short-term goals and work will help you achieve them. This, in turn, gives you a clear sense of where your organization is going and allows you to ensure your teams are working on projects that make the most impact. Think of it this way—if your goals and objectives are your destination on a map, your strategic plan is your navigation system.

In this article, we walk you through the 5-step strategic planning process and show you how to get started developing your own strategic plan.

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What is strategic planning?

Strategic planning is a business process that helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. During the strategic planning process, stakeholders review and define the organization’s mission and goals, conduct competitive assessments, and identify company goals and objectives. The product of the planning cycle is a strategic plan, which is shared throughout the company.

What is a strategic plan?

[inline illustration] Strategic plan elements (infographic)

A strategic plan is the end result of the strategic planning process. At its most basic, it’s a tool used to define your organization’s goals and what actions you’ll take to achieve them.

Typically, your strategic plan should include: 

Your company’s mission statement

Your organizational goals, including your long-term goals and short-term, yearly objectives

Any plan of action, tactics, or approaches you plan to take to meet those goals

What are the benefits of strategic planning?

Strategic planning can help with goal setting and decision-making by allowing you to map out how your company will move toward your organization’s vision and mission statements in the next three to five years. Let’s circle back to our map metaphor. If you think of your company trajectory as a line on a map, a strategic plan can help you better quantify how you’ll get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be in a few years).

When you create and share a clear strategic plan with your team, you can:

Build a strong organizational culture by clearly defining and aligning on your organization’s mission, vision, and goals.

Align everyone around a shared purpose and ensure all departments and teams are working toward a common objective.

Proactively set objectives to help you get where you want to go and achieve desired outcomes.

Promote a long-term vision for your company rather than focusing primarily on short-term gains.

Ensure resources are allocated around the most high-impact priorities.

Define long-term goals and set shorter-term goals to support them.

Assess your current situation and identify any opportunities—or threats—allowing your organization to mitigate potential risks.

Create a proactive business culture that enables your organization to respond more swiftly to emerging market changes and opportunities.

What are the 5 steps in strategic planning?

The strategic planning process involves a structured methodology that guides the organization from vision to implementation. The strategic planning process starts with assembling a small, dedicated team of key strategic planners—typically five to 10 members—who will form the strategic planning, or management, committee. This team is responsible for gathering crucial information, guiding the development of the plan, and overseeing strategy execution.

Once you’ve established your management committee, you can get to work on the planning process. 

Step 1: Assess your current business strategy and business environment

Before you can define where you’re going, you first need to define where you are. Understanding the external environment, including market trends and competitive landscape, is crucial in the initial assessment phase of strategic planning.

To do this, your management committee should collect a variety of information from additional stakeholders, like employees and customers. In particular, plan to gather:

Relevant industry and market data to inform any market opportunities, as well as any potential upcoming threats in the near future.

Customer insights to understand what your customers want from your company—like product improvements or additional services.

Employee feedback that needs to be addressed—whether about the product, business practices, or the day-to-day company culture.

Consider different types of strategic planning tools and analytical techniques to gather this information, such as:

A balanced scorecard to help you evaluate four major elements of a business: learning and growth, business processes, customer satisfaction, and financial performance.

A SWOT analysis to help you assess both current and future potential for the business (you’ll return to this analysis periodically during the strategic planning process). 

To fill out each letter in the SWOT acronym, your management committee will answer a series of questions:

What does your organization currently do well?

What separates you from your competitors?

What are your most valuable internal resources?

What tangible assets do you have?

What is your biggest strength? 

Weaknesses:

What does your organization do poorly?

What do you currently lack (whether that’s a product, resource, or process)?

What do your competitors do better than you?

What, if any, limitations are holding your organization back?

What processes or products need improvement? 

Opportunities:

What opportunities does your organization have?

How can you leverage your unique company strengths?

Are there any trends that you can take advantage of?

How can you capitalize on marketing or press opportunities?

Is there an emerging need for your product or service? 

What emerging competitors should you keep an eye on?

Are there any weaknesses that expose your organization to risk?

Have you or could you experience negative press that could reduce market share?

Is there a chance of changing customer attitudes towards your company? 

Step 2: Identify your company’s goals and objectives

To begin strategy development, take into account your current position, which is where you are now. Then, draw inspiration from your vision, mission, and current position to identify and define your goals—these are your final destination. 

To develop your strategy, you’re essentially pulling out your compass and asking, “Where are we going next?” “What’s the ideal future state of this company?” This can help you figure out which path you need to take to get there.

During this phase of the planning process, take inspiration from important company documents, such as:

Your mission statement, to understand how you can continue moving towards your organization’s core purpose.

Your vision statement, to clarify how your strategic plan fits into your long-term vision.

Your company values, to guide you towards what matters most towards your company.

Your competitive advantages, to understand what unique benefit you offer to the market.

Your long-term goals, to track where you want to be in five or 10 years.

Your financial forecast and projection, to understand where you expect your financials to be in the next three years, what your expected cash flow is, and what new opportunities you will likely be able to invest in.

Step 3: Develop your strategic plan and determine performance metrics

Now that you understand where you are and where you want to go, it’s time to put pen to paper. Take your current business position and strategy into account, as well as your organization’s goals and objectives, and build out a strategic plan for the next three to five years. Keep in mind that even though you’re creating a long-term plan, parts of your plan should be created or revisited as the quarters and years go on.

As you build your strategic plan, you should define:

Company priorities for the next three to five years, based on your SWOT analysis and strategy.

Yearly objectives for the first year. You don’t need to define your objectives for every year of the strategic plan. As the years go on, create new yearly objectives that connect back to your overall strategic goals . 

Related key results and KPIs. Some of these should be set by the management committee, and some should be set by specific teams that are closer to the work. Make sure your key results and KPIs are measurable and actionable. These KPIs will help you track progress and ensure you’re moving in the right direction.

Budget for the next year or few years. This should be based on your financial forecast as well as your direction. Do you need to spend aggressively to develop your product? Build your team? Make a dent with marketing? Clarify your most important initiatives and how you’ll budget for those.

A high-level project roadmap . A project roadmap is a tool in project management that helps you visualize the timeline of a complex initiative, but you can also create a very high-level project roadmap for your strategic plan. Outline what you expect to be working on in certain quarters or years to make the plan more actionable and understandable.

Step 4: Implement and share your plan

Now it’s time to put your plan into action. Strategy implementation involves clear communication across your entire organization to make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and how to measure the plan’s success. 

Make sure your team (especially senior leadership) has access to the strategic plan, so they can understand how their work contributes to company priorities and the overall strategy map. We recommend sharing your plan in the same tool you use to manage and track work, so you can more easily connect high-level objectives to daily work. If you don’t already, consider using a work management platform .  

A few tips to make sure your plan will be executed without a hitch: 

Communicate clearly to your entire organization throughout the implementation process, to ensure all team members understand the strategic plan and how to implement it effectively. 

Define what “success” looks like by mapping your strategic plan to key performance indicators.

Ensure that the actions outlined in the strategic plan are integrated into the daily operations of the organization, so that every team member's daily activities are aligned with the broader strategic objectives.

Utilize tools and software—like a work management platform—that can aid in implementing and tracking the progress of your plan.

Regularly monitor and share the progress of the strategic plan with the entire organization, to keep everyone informed and reinforce the importance of the plan.

Establish regular check-ins to monitor the progress of your strategic plan and make adjustments as needed. 

Step 5: Revise and restructure as needed

Once you’ve created and implemented your new strategic framework, the final step of the planning process is to monitor and manage your plan.

Remember, your strategic plan isn’t set in stone. You’ll need to revisit and update the plan if your company changes directions or makes new investments. As new market opportunities and threats come up, you’ll likely want to tweak your strategic plan. Make sure to review your plan regularly—meaning quarterly and annually—to ensure it’s still aligned with your organization’s vision and goals.

Keep in mind that your plan won’t last forever, even if you do update it frequently. A successful strategic plan evolves with your company’s long-term goals. When you’ve achieved most of your strategic goals, or if your strategy has evolved significantly since you first made your plan, it might be time to create a new one.

Build a smarter strategic plan with a work management platform

To turn your company strategy into a plan—and ultimately, impact—make sure you’re proactively connecting company objectives to daily work. When you can clarify this connection, you’re giving your team members the context they need to get their best work done. 

A work management platform plays a pivotal role in this process. It acts as a central hub for your strategic plan, ensuring that every task and project is directly tied to your broader company goals. This alignment is crucial for visibility and coordination, allowing team members to see how their individual efforts contribute to the company’s success. 

By leveraging such a platform, you not only streamline workflow and enhance team productivity but also align every action with your strategic objectives—allowing teams to drive greater impact and helping your company move toward goals more effectively. 

Strategic planning FAQs

Still have questions about strategic planning? We have answers.

Why do I need a strategic plan?

A strategic plan is one of many tools you can use to plan and hit your goals. It helps map out strategic objectives and growth metrics that will help your company be successful.

When should I create a strategic plan?

You should aim to create a strategic plan every three to five years, depending on your organization’s growth speed.

Since the point of a strategic plan is to map out your long-term goals and how you’ll get there, you should create a strategic plan when you’ve met most or all of them. You should also create a strategic plan any time you’re going to make a large pivot in your organization’s mission or enter new markets. 

What is a strategic planning template?

A strategic planning template is a tool organizations can use to map out their strategic plan and track progress. Typically, a strategic planning template houses all the components needed to build out a strategic plan, including your company’s vision and mission statements, information from any competitive analyses or SWOT assessments, and relevant KPIs.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. business plan?

A business plan can help you document your strategy as you’re getting started so every team member is on the same page about your core business priorities and goals. This tool can help you document and share your strategy with key investors or stakeholders as you get your business up and running.

You should create a business plan when you’re: 

Just starting your business

Significantly restructuring your business

If your business is already established, you should create a strategic plan instead of a business plan. Even if you’re working at a relatively young company, your strategic plan can build on your business plan to help you move in the right direction. During the strategic planning process, you’ll draw from a lot of the fundamental business elements you built early on to establish your strategy for the next three to five years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. mission and vision statements?

Your strategic plan, mission statement, and vision statements are all closely connected. In fact, during the strategic planning process, you will take inspiration from your mission and vision statements in order to build out your strategic plan.

Simply put: 

A mission statement summarizes your company’s purpose.

A vision statement broadly explains how you’ll reach your company’s purpose.

A strategic plan pulls in inspiration from your mission and vision statements and outlines what actions you’re going to take to move in the right direction. 

For example, if your company produces pet safety equipment, here’s how your mission statement, vision statement, and strategic plan might shake out:

Mission statement: “To ensure the safety of the world’s animals.” 

Vision statement: “To create pet safety and tracking products that are effortless to use.” 

Your strategic plan would outline the steps you’re going to take in the next few years to bring your company closer to your mission and vision. For example, you develop a new pet tracking smart collar or improve the microchipping experience for pet owners. 

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. company objectives?

Company objectives are broad goals. You should set these on a yearly or quarterly basis (if your organization moves quickly). These objectives give your team a clear sense of what you intend to accomplish for a set period of time. 

Your strategic plan is more forward-thinking than your company goals, and it should cover more than one year of work. Think of it this way: your company objectives will move the needle towards your overall strategy—but your strategic plan should be bigger than company objectives because it spans multiple years.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a business case?

A business case is a document to help you pitch a significant investment or initiative for your company. When you create a business case, you’re outlining why this investment is a good idea, and how this large-scale project will positively impact the business. 

You might end up building business cases for things on your strategic plan’s roadmap—but your strategic plan should be bigger than that. This tool should encompass multiple years of your roadmap, across your entire company—not just one initiative.

What’s the difference between a strategic plan vs. a project plan?

A strategic plan is a company-wide, multi-year plan of what you want to accomplish in the next three to five years and how you plan to accomplish that. A project plan, on the other hand, outlines how you’re going to accomplish a specific project. This project could be one of many initiatives that contribute to a specific company objective which, in turn, is one of many objectives that contribute to your strategic plan. 

What’s the difference between strategic management vs. strategic planning?

A strategic plan is a tool to define where your organization wants to go and what actions you need to take to achieve those goals. Strategic planning is the process of creating a plan in order to hit your strategic objectives.

Strategic management includes the strategic planning process, but also goes beyond it. In addition to planning how you will achieve your big-picture goals, strategic management also helps you organize your resources and figure out the best action plans for success. 

Free Strategic Planning Templates

By Joe Weller | May 16, 2018

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The success of your organization — no matter what size or industry — depends on the thoroughness of your planning and vision. A strategic plan can provide a roadmap for accomplishing specific goals, and will increase your chances of reaching objectives on time and budget. In this article, we’ve rounded up the top strategic planning templates in Microsoft Word and Excel, all of which are free to download and fully customizable.

Additionally, we've provided customizable strategic planning templates in Smartsheet, a collaborative, real-time work execution platform that empowers you to better plan, manage, and report on strategic initiatives.

Strategic Business Plan Template

Strategic Business Plan Template

Download Strategic Business Plan Template

Excel | Smartsheet

A comprehensive, strategic business plan may include company information, SWOT analysis, research, goals, resources, risks and more. A template provides structure for your business planning process as well as a communication tool that’s simple to update or modify. Use the template as a guide for evaluating your business, identifying opportunities for growth and development, and creating a strategic plan.

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Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template

Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template

Download Nonprofit Strategic Plan Template

A nonprofit strategic plan often emphasizes vision, values, and mission as the foundation for future objectives. A template can be used to clearly define who is being served and what issues need to be addressed. As with a business plan, nonprofit planning may include sections for evaluating risks and opportunities, measuring financial resources, developing a marketing plan, and creating objectives for organizational change.

HR Strategic Plan Template

HR Strategic Plan template

‌ Download HR Strategic Plan Template

Create a detailed human resources strategic plan for your organization, or modify the template to focus on one specific area, such as recruitment or employee relations. Use the template to translate strategies into measurable action plans. This simple layout makes it easy for readers to quickly view key information.

IT Strategic Planning Template

IT Strategic Plan Template

‌ Download IT Strategic Planning Template

IT is an essential part of any business, nonprofit, school, or government agency. While information technology is just one part of an overall business strategy, creating a separate strategic plan for IT will help ensure that you have a comprehensive roadmap to follow for managing and purchasing new assets, understanding your current and potential technology usage, and aligning your IT goals with business objectives.

Strategic Marketing Plan Template

Strategic Marketing Plan Template

‌ Download Strategic Marketing Plan Template

Use this free template to help shape your marketing strategy. It combines information on your target market and business with marketing tactics to help you think strategically and create a plan of action. The template can guide your research process or be used as a simple brainstorming tool.

Social Media Strategy Plan Template

Social Media Strategic Plan

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Social media is an integral part of online marketing, and creating a strategic plan can help ensure that you are using your time and resources effectively. Consider your branding, mission, target audience, competition and other factors to determine which social networks and types of content will perform best for your company. Keep track of KPIs and adjust your social media plan accordingly.

SWOT Analysis Strategy Template

SWOT Analysis Strategic Template

‌ Download SWOT Analysis Strategy Template

This matrix template combines SWOT analysis with strategic planning. Examine the relationships between your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and then list related strategies to tackle your goals. The layout of this template allows you to view the SWOT categories and strategies side-by-side, which may be useful for a presentation or summary.

One-Page Strategic Planning Template

One Page Strategic Planning Template

Download One-Page Strategic Planning Template

Excel | Word | Smartsheet

A one-page strategic plan is perfect for small businesses or for summarizing a longer planning process. Use this template as is, or edit the layout or included information to better suit your needs. This template includes all the essentials on one page, including values, strengths and weaknesses, goals, and actions.

Strategic Vision Template

Strategic Vision Summary Template

Download Strategic Vision Template

Excel | Word

Summarize your strategic vision and plan, highlighting key information for stakeholders, management, investors, or for your own reference. Combining a vision statement with a brief summary of goals, actions and KPIs makes it easy to see how your business values and purpose relate to your objectives. It also provides a succinct summary for use in a presentation or meeting.

University Strategic Plan Outline

University Strategic Plan Outline Word Template

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This template provides an outline for university strategy planning. The actual strategic plan may cover multiple pages and provide an in-depth analysis and detailed mission and vision statements. Strategic planning is an opportunity for universities to look closely at campus needs, institutional values, infrastructure, long-term goals, important obstacles, and more. The strategic plan will be a guiding document that is reviewed and updated regularly.

What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is an organization’s process for defining their strategy so that they can accomplish specific goals and objectives. Strategic planning may be utilized on a large scale, such as planning for business growth over several years or to help a nonprofit or governmental organization reach its stated mission. A strategic plan can also be used on a smaller scale, such as crafting a marketing plan or developing strategy for the goals of one department within a business or organization. It is important to note that strategy is distinct from planning: While strategy looks at why certain steps should be taken, a plan outlines how to enact those steps. strategic planning marries these two concepts in order to determine the best possible course of action. The purpose of strategic planning is to provide a thoughtful, deliberate approach to reaching objectives based on an in-depth analysis of both internal and external factors affecting an organization.

A strategic plan often covers multiple years, addressing both short- and long-term goals. It also provides a way of tracking progress and measuring success. However, it’s not a document that is fixed in stone — instead, it’s wise to revisit and adjust a strategic plan periodically based on the evolving vision, objectives, needs, and resources of a business or institution.

Depending on the scope of your plan, you may be working with a team of multiple stakeholders during the strategic planning process. To keep the process running smoothly, make roles and responsibilities clear. Different parties may be responsible for providing data, reviewing the plan, or authorizing strategic decisions. As you prepare for planning, make sure all participants understand what’s involved in the process and have received any relevant information prior to meeting.

Benefits of Strategic Planning

There are benefits of strategic planning, including the following:

  • Align the goals of a department or project with larger business goals
  • Provide clear communication to team members, stakeholders, or clients
  • Clearly define the vision and mission of an organization
  • Provide clarity on how to deal with internal or environmental changes

Parts of a Strategic Plan

One way to think about strategic planning is that it identifies any gaps between a current state and desired future state, and then dictates how to close those gaps — how you get from where you are to where you want to be. To that end, various factors are taken into consideration in order to formulate an effective plan. Here are some of the elements often included in a strategic plan.

  • Introductory Statement: The introductory statement should briefly describe why the strategic plan was developed and for what time period, and list the authors of the plan.  
  • Background Statement: This section may provide information about the organization, such as history, management structure, and supporting partners or agencies. Alternatively, you could use this section as a brief business statement — more of an elevator pitch — to concisely describe your business.  
  • Organizational Structure: Include this information if it’s relevant to evaluate how your business or organization operates and is structured, from governing board to staffing.  
  • Vision: A vision statement should briefly describe what a company wants to achieve or become. This is one of the primary organizational tenets to consider, along with values and mission.  
  • Values: These are the principles that an organization stands for and abides by. Many businesses create core value statements to guide company culture.  
  • Mission Statement: A mission statement describes the purpose of a business or organization. This is distinct from a vision statement because it is not a projected goal for the future.  
  • Problem Statement: Some plans include a problem statement, which can outline key or discrete issues that need to be addressed.  
  • SWOT Analysis: A SWOT analysis provides a foundation and context for developing strategy by examining the strengths and weaknesses within and organization as well as external opportunities and threats.  
  • Goals: As stated earlier, a strategic plan may include long-term as well as short-term (i.e, monthly or quarterly) goals. Objectives should be measurable and broken down into actionable steps, and the action plan for each goal should specify who is responsible for implementing the strategy, a timeline for starting and ending the action, and how the outcome will be evaluated.  
  • Evaluation: Methods for evaluation should be spelled out in the strategic plan. This could include tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) and documenting the progress of action steps on an ongoing basis.  
  • Executive Summary : This final summary helps employees, investors, or other readers quickly understand your plan.

No matter what type of strategic plan you are working on, using a template provides a simple and quick outline to organize your process. In the following sections, you’ll find free, downloadable planning templates for business, nonprofit, human resources, marketing, IT strategic planning, and more.

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The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. 

When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time.  Try Smartsheet for free, today.

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The last business strategy template you’ll ever need

outline for strategic business plan

If you don’t know where you’re going, then the road you take doesn’t really matter. While wandering is fine for adventures, it’s far from ideal for starting a business or turning a struggling one around. A high-level strategy can help you build some much-needed momentum — and with the right business strategy template , you can ride into the unknown with confidence.

In this article, we’ll get to the core of what a business strategy template is and why you need one. We’ll also explore how monday.com can help you on your journey and answer a few frequently asked questions along the way.

Get the template

What is a business strategy template?

If you want to truly capitalize on a business opportunity, you have to have a strategy. And not just any strategy will work either. It needs to be a strategy you can pull off with your budget, human resources, timeline, and experience. Let’s quickly define strategy.

A s trategy is a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal, usually over a long period and can be used to drive the success of either a product or service.

A business strategy template acts as a fill-in-the-blank resource that’ll guide you when creating your own winning business strategy. A great one will outline a wide range of factors such as your marketing strategy, go-to market strategy, tools, product-market fit, team dynamic, strategic goals, competitive analysis, and more.

Why use a business strategy template?

You may have heard about a landmark study performed in the ‘80s where a team of psychologists surveyed people, asking if they believed they were great drivers. Naturally, 80% of them believed they were exceptional drivers.

Download Excel template

It’s a funny study because we all know 80% of drivers aren’t exceptional. The same could be said for both small and big business strategies. Very few people would openly admit to having a bad business strategy. A little strategic planning goes a long way when capitalizing on limited key resources, figuring out the key action items your team needs to focus on, and developing some serious business growth in a short period of time.

Using a template can help ensure that you include all the necessary information in your business strategy. In short, it should include everything you need to launch a successful go-to-market strategy and leave room for error and unforeseen events.

If you’re an existing business that needs to pivot or avoid some potential risks, then a fresh business strategy template could be the answer to getting you back on track. Sure, it may be time-consuming and expensive to switch gears, but your investors, staff, and most importantly, your customers will thank you when you get it right. Business strategy templates have many different applications.

What are some examples of a business strategy template?

So how do you go from no business strategy to a brilliant one using a template? Let’s take a look at two business strategy example templates to help you get started.

Business strategy template sorted by phases

This business strategy template breaks up your strategy into different phases. This is helpful because it allows you to picture how your plans progress over time. Within each phase, you can insert information related to different areas of your business. Then, you can also include major objectives at the bottom and mission statement at the top.

Example of a business strategy template separated into different phases

( Image Source )

Business strategy template sorted by primary and support activities

This business strategy template example organizes information by primary and support activities. This is helpful if you want to be able to clearly understand how each department in your company contributes to your business strategy.

Example of a corporate strategy template sorted into primary and support activities

While these two template examples help show you the value of organizing the information that goes into a business strategy, they lack the flexibility and integration that you get from monday.com’s business strategy template.

monday.com’s business strategy template

Unless you’re Google or Apple, you’re probably working with a finite amount of resources . Like any other business, you’re going to need a helping hand once in a while, and that’s where the right business strategy template comes into play.

outline for strategic business plan

Here at monday.com, we know how important it is to get your strategy right from the beginning, so we took the liberty of crafting a handy template that’ll boost your confidence and speed things up a bit.

monday.com understands that an iron-clad business strategy isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ deal. It’s a living, breathing process that needs to remain flexible as your business grows, the competitive landscape changes, and your customer’s needs fluctuate.

You can easily change the columns, swap out section owners, change the status, communicate on specific items, and even set up automations like email triggers and phase advancements. There’s a lot you can do to put this template to work for you rather than letting it collect dust like most programs do.

monday.com takes customization to the next level by offering you a wide array of custom columns, charts, dashboards, and integrations. And the automation actively takes work off your plate and keeps all parties in the know when it matters most.

monday.com’s template makes it easy to build a business strategy by keeping your company’s goals visible at all times. While a business plan or business strategy is necessary for high-level and long-term planning, you’re still going to need some more specific templates to get the job done right.

More related templates from monday.com

Check out a few related templates that are sure to kickstart your next project .

SWOT analysis template

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. At its core, a SWOT analysis helps organizations bring clarity to all the factors that go into making key business decisions. Sure, you can continue to make decisions in a silo without thinking about your customers, competitors, or economic factors, and sometimes you’ll make the right call. But a better long-term play is taking those key factors into account.

monday.com SWOT template

A SWOT analysis template complements a business strategy template because it goes a layer deeper. Most companies take the time to factor their strengths and opportunities into their strategic vision, but a lot of them skip over the weaknesses and threats part.

Strategic plan template

There are a lot of words thrown around in the business world that begin to feel synonymous over time. Business plan, business goal, business strategy, strategic plan, and all the other plans all start to sound the same. Believe it or not, there are some key differences.

A business plan and strategic plan template will both include an executive summary , company descriptions, and even mission, vision, and value statements. Where a business plan differs is that it’s an overview of how the business runs day-to-day, while a strategic plan focuses on how you’ll achieve specific initiatives that have the power to transform your business. In short, every company should spend time developing a strategic plan for their project management office (PMO) .

Marketing plan template

Marketing strategies are a dime a dozen, and so are marketing strategy templates. So how can you tell which one is worthwhile? Yet again, it’s the engine behind the marketing plan template that makes the difference.

marketing plan template

monday.com amplifies your marketing plan by providing a visually appealing board (as shown above), complete customization across your marketing plan columns, and the ability to communicate in real-time with your staff about important initiatives, company updates, or changes to your product or service.

FAQs about business strategy templates

Naturally, with any business process comes a lot of questions, and to help you on your journey, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions.

How do you write a business strategy?

Any writing endeavor begins by asking basic questions and coming up with answers. Good starting points (beyond the templates offered here) include:

  • Where are we today?
  • What direction are we heading?
  • Is that the right path?
  • How do we know if it’s the right path?
  • What are our strategic objectives?
  • What are our tactical plans?

As you answer these questions, try to be as specific as possible. And don’t forget to take your competitors into account.

What are the key elements of a business strategy?

Key elements of a business strategy will vary depending on the type of business you’re starting, the competitive landscape, and many other factors. That being said, there are a few that are universal, such as:

  • what your goals are and the corresponding objectives that’ll get you there
  • a reflection of not only your strengths but your weaknesses as a company
  • potential risks such as competitors, economic factors, law changes, and more
  • how you’ll create value for your customers
  • how you’ll get the word out about your product or service
  • contingency plans for if things don’t go as expected

As you can see, the key elements really break down what it is you want to do, how you’ll get there, what makes you different, and what you’ll do if things don’t go according to plan.

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How to Develop a Strategic Plan for Business Development [Free Template]

Meg Prater (she/her)

Published: May 01, 2023

Business development is usually confused with sales , often overlooked, and only sometimes given the strategic focus it deserves. Having a business development strategy, however, is crucial to long-term success. It ensures that everyone in your company is working toward a common goal.

business development professionals looking over strategic plan

But how do you develop a business development plan? Pull up a chair and stay awhile, I’m diving into that and more below.

outline for strategic business plan

Free Strategic Planning Template

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Business development.

Business development is the practice of identifying, attracting, and acquiring new business to further your company’s revenue and growth goals. How you achieve these goals is sometimes referred to as a business development strategy — and it applies to and benefits everyone at your company.

Business Development framework

It’s not unusual to mistake business development with sales, but there’s an important distinction between the two. Business development refers to many activities and functions inside and outside the traditional sales team structure. In some companies, business development is part of the larger sales operations team. In others, it’s part of the marketing team or sits on its own team altogether.

Because business development can look so different among industries and businesses, the strategy behind this function is expansive. Below, we outline each step in the strategy and how to apply it to your business development plan.

Business Development Strategy

  • Understand your competitive landscape.
  • Choose effective KPIs.
  • Develop long-term customer relationships.
  • Implement customer feedback.
  • Keep your website content and user interface fresh.
  • Speed up your response time.
  • Leverage a sales plan to identify areas of growth.
  • Implement a social listening strategy.
  • Sponsor industry organizations, conferences, and events.

1. Understand your competitive landscape.

Before you can develop a strategic plan to drive business growth, you must have a solid understanding of the competitive landscape in your industry. When you know who your ideal customer is and what problem they are looking to solve with your product or service, research who else is providing a viable solution in your industry.

Identify other companies operating in your space. What features do their products have? How competitive is their pricing? Do their systems integrate with other third-party solutions? Get crystal-clear on what the competition is offering so you know how to differentiate your product to your customers.

Featured Resource: 10 Competitive Analysis Templates

10 Competitive Analysis Templates

2. Choose effective KPIs.

How will you know if your business development efforts are successful? Ensure you can measure your goals with relevant, meaningful key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect the health of your business. The result of these metrics should give you a strong indication of how effective your business development efforts are.

Featured Resource: Sales Metrics Calculator Dashboard

Sales Metrics Calculator Dashboard

3. Develop long-term customer relationships.

Do you engage with your customers even after the deal has been closed? If not, it’s time to develop a plan to keep your buyers engaged. Building long-term relationships with your customers pays off. A grand majority of a company's business comes from repeat customers, and returning customers are cheaper to convert. Indeed, it’s famously known that it costs five times more to convert new customers than it does to sell to returning customers.

Not only are repeat customers easier to sell to, they can also provide valuable feedback and insights to help you improve your business. Additionally, customer testimonials can be used for valuable content that can attract your next buyer.

4. Implement customer feedback.

If and when you have customers who are willing to provide feedback on your sales process and offerings, make sure you hear them out and implement it. Your customers offer a unique, valuable perspective because they chose your product over the competition — their insights can help shape your strategy to keep your business ahead of the curve.

5. Keep your website content and user interface fresh.

When was the last time your company had a website refresh? Can you ensure that all links are working, that your site is easy to navigate, and that it is laid out and intuitive for those who want to buy from you?

Keeping your website up-to-date and easy to use can make or break the sale for customers who know they are ready to buy. Don’t make it too difficult for potential customers to get in touch with you or purchase your product directly (if that suits your business model).

6. Speed up your response time.

How fast your sales team responds to your leads can make or break your ability to close the deal. If you notice your sales process has some lag time that prevents you from responding to prospects as soon as possible, these could be areas to prioritize improvement.

7. Leverage a sales plan to identify areas of growth.

No business development strategy is complete without a sales plan . If you’ve already established a plan, make sure to unify it with your business development efforts. Your plan should outline your target audience, identify potential obstacles, provide a “game plan” for sales reps, outline responsibilities for team members, and define market conditions.

While a sales plan primarily affects your sales team, it can inform the activities of your business development reps. A sales plan can help them understand where the business needs growth — whether it’s in a new vertical, a new audience, or a new need that’s recently come to light in the industry.

Not sure how to create a sales plan? Download the following template to get started.

Featured Resource: Sales Plan Template

Sales Plan Template

8. Implement a social listening strategy.

While social listening is mainly used in a marketing and customer service context, it’s also an essential practice for business development. There are more than 4 billion social media users worldwide. Naturally, social media is one of the best places to hear directly from consumers and businesses — without needing to reach out to them first.

In business development, you can use social listening to track what the general public is saying about your brand, industry, product offerings, product category, and more. It can help you identify key weaknesses in the industry, making it a prime opportunity to be the first to address those pitfalls.

Use a social listening tool to pick up on trends before they gain traction.

9. Sponsor industry organizations, conferences, and events.

A key facet of business development is reaching potential customers where they are. One of the easiest ways to do that is by sponsoring industry organizations, conferences, and events. This strategy will guarantee that your business development reps get valuable face-to-face time with your business’ target audience. The additional visibility can also help establish your business as a leader in the field.

Now that you understand what business development entails, it's time to create a plan to set your strategy in motion.

How to Develop a Strategic Plan

How to Develop a Strategic Plan

When we refer to a business development strategic plan, we’re referring to a roadmap that guides the whole company and requires everyone’s assistance to execute successfully and move your customer through the flywheel . With a plan, you’ll close more deals and quantify success.

Let’s go over the steps you should take to create a strategic plan.

1. Download our strategic plan template .

First, download our free growth strategy template to create a rock-solid strategic plan. With this template, you can map a growth plan for increasing sales, revenue, and customer acquisition rates. You can also create action plans for adding new locations, creating new product lines, and expanding into new regions.

Featured Resource: Strategic Plan Template

Strategic Plan Template

2. Craft your elevator pitch.

What is your company’s mission and how do you explain it to potential clients in 30 seconds or less? Keeping your elevator pitch at the forefront of all strategic planning will remind everyone what you’re working toward and why.

Some people believe the best pitch isn’t a pitch at all , but a story. Others have their favorite types of pitches , from a one-word pitch to a Twitter pitch that forces you to boil down your elevator pitch to just 280 characters.

Find the elevator pitch that works best for your reps, company, and offer, and document it in your business development strategy.

3. Include an executive summary.

You’ll share your strategic plan with executives and maybe even board members, so it’s important they have a high-level overview to skim. Pick the most salient points from your strategic plan and list or summarize them here.

You might already have an executive summary for your company if you’ve written a business proposal or value proposition . Use this as a jumping off point but create one that’s unique to your business development goals and priorities.

Once your executives have read your summary, they should have a pretty good idea of your direction for growing the business — without having to read the rest of your strategy.

3. Set SMART goals.

What are your goals for this strategy? If you don’t know, it will be difficult for your company and team to align behind your plan. So, set SMART goals . Remember, SMART stands for:

Featured Resource: SMART Goal Setting Template

Download the template now.

If one of your goals is for 5% of monthly revenue to come from upsells or cross-sells, make this goal specific by identifying what types of clients you’ll target.

Identify how you’ll measure success. Is success when reps conduct upsell outreach to 30 clients every month, or is it when they successfully upsell a customer and close the deal? To make your goal attainable, ensure everyone on your team understands who is responsible for this goal: in this case, sales or business development reps.

This goal is relevant because it will help your company grow, and likely contributes to larger company-wide goals. To make it time-based, set a timeline for success and action. In this case, your sales team must achieve that 5% upsell/cross-sell number by the end of the quarter.

4. Conduct SWOT analysis.

SWOT is a strategic planning technique used to identify a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Before conducting a SWOT, identify what your goal is. For example, “We’d like to use SWOT to learn how best to conduct outreach to prospective buyers.”

Once you’ve identified what you’re working toward, conduct market research by talking with your staff, business partners, and customers.

Next, identify your business’ strengths. Perhaps you have low employee turnover, a central location that makes it easy to visit with prospects in person, or an in-demand feature your competitors haven’t been able to mimic.

Featured Resource: Market Research Kit with SWOT Analysis Template

Market Research Kit with SWOT Analysis Template

Your business’ weaknesses are next. Has your product recently glitched? Have you been unable to successfully build out a customer service team that can meet the demands of your customers?

Then, switch to opportunities. For example, have you made a new business partnership that will transition you into a previously untapped market segment?

What are the threats? Is your physical space getting crowded? What about your market space? Is increasing competition an issue?

Use SWOT results to identify a better way forward for your company.

5. Determine how you’ll measure success.

You’ve identified strengths and weaknesses and set SMART goals , but how will you measure it all ? It’s important for your team to know just how they will be measured, goaled, and rewarded. Common key performance indicators (KPIs) for business development include:

  • Company growth
  • Lead conversion rate
  • Leads generated per month
  • Client satisfaction
  • Pipeline value

6. Set a budget.

What will your budget be for achieving your goals? Review financial documents, historical budgets, and operational estimates to set a budget that’s realistic.

Once you have a “draft” budget, check it against other businesses in your industry and region to make sure you’re not overlooking or misjudging any numbers. Don’t forget to factor in payroll, facilities costs, insurance, and other operational line items that tend to add up.

7. Identify your target customer.

Who will your business development team pursue? Your target market is the group of customers your product/service was built for. For example, if you sell a suite of products for facilities teams at enterprise-level companies, your target market might be facilities or janitorial coordinators at companies with 1000+ employees. To identify your target market:

  • Analyze your product or service
  • Check out the competition
  • Choose criteria to segment by
  • Perform research

Your target customer is the person most likely to buy your product. Do your homework and make sure your business development plan addresses the right people. Only then will you be able to grow your business.

8. Choose an outreach strategy.

What tactics will you use to attract new business for your sales team to close? You might focus on a single tactic or a blend of a few. Once you know who your target market is and where they “hang out,” then you can choose an appropriate outreach strategy.

Will your business development plan rely heavily on thought leadership such as speaking at or attending conferences? Will you host a local meetup for others in your industry? Or will your reps network heavily on LinkedIn and social media?

If referrals will be pivotal to your business’ growth, consider at which stage of the buying process your BDRs will ask for referrals. Will you ask for a referral even if a prospect decides they like your product/service but aren’t a good fit? Or will you wait until a customer has been using your solution for a few months? Define these parameters in your strategy.

Upselling and Cross-Selling

Upselling and cross-selling are a cost-effective way of growing your business. But it’s important that this tactic is used with guardrails. Only upsell clients on features that will benefit them as well as your bottom line. Don’t bloat client accounts with features or services they really don’t need — that’s when turnover and churn start to happen.

Sponsorship and Advertising

Will your BDR work with or be on the marketing team to develop paid advertising campaigns? If so, how will your BDRs support these campaigns? And which channels will your strategy include? If you sell a product, you might want to feature heavily on Instagram or Facebook. If you’re selling a SaaS platform, LinkedIn or Twitter might be more appropriate.

What’s your outreach strategy? Will your BDRs be held to a quota to make 25 calls a week and send 15 emails? Will your outreach strategy be inbound , outbound , or a healthy combination of both? Identify the outreach guardrails that best match your company values for doing business.

Strategic Plan Example

Let’s put all of these moving parts in action with a strategic plan example featuring good ol’ Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.

Strategic Plan Example

Elevator Pitch Example for Strategic Plan

Dunder Mifflin is a local paper company dedicated to providing excellent customer support and the paper your business needs to excel today and grow tomorrow.

Here are some additional resources for inspiration:

  • Elevator Pitch Examples to Inspire Your Own
  • Components of an Elevator Pitch

Executive Summary Example for Strategic Plan

At Dunder Mifflin, our strengths are our customer service, speed of delivery, and our local appeal. Our weakness is that our sales cycle is too long.

To shorten the sales cycle 5% by the end of Q4, we need to ask for more referrals (which already enjoy a 15% faster sales cycle), sponsor local professional events, and outreach to big box store customers who suffer from poor customer support and are more likely to exit their contract. These tactics should allow us to meet our goal in the agreed-upon timeline.

  • How to Write an Incredibly Well-Written Executive Summary [+ Example]
  • Executive Summary Template

SMART Goals Example for Strategic Plan

Dunder Mifflin’s goal is to decrease our sales cycle 5% by the end of Q4. We will do this by more proactively scheduling follow-up meetings, sourcing more qualified, ready-to-buy leads, and asking for 25% more referrals (which have a 15% shorter sales cycle already). We will measure success by looking at the sales pipeline and calculating the average length of time it takes a prospect to become closed won or closed lost.

  • 5 Dos and Don'ts When Making a SMART Goal [Examples]
  • How to Write a SMART Goal
  • SMART Marketing Goals Template

SWOT Analysis Example for Strategic Plan

Strengths: Our strengths are our reputation in the greater Scranton area, our customer service team (led by Kelly Kapoor), and our warehouse team, who ship same-day reams to our customers — something the big box stores cannot offer.

Weaknesses: Our greatest weakness is that our sales team has been unable to successfully counter prospects who choose big box stores for their paper supply. This results in a longer-than-average sales cycle, which costs money and time.

Opportunities: Our greatest business opportunity is to conduct better-targeted outreach to prospects who are ready to buy, ask for more referrals from existing customers, and follow up with closed lost business that’s likely coming up on the end of an annual contract with a big box store.

Threats: Our biggest threat is large box stores offering lower prices to our prospects and customers and a sales cycle that is too long, resulting in low revenue and slow growth.

  • How to Conduct Competitive Analysis
  • How to Run a SWOT Analysis for Your Business [+ Template]
  • SWOT Analysis Template and Market Research Kit

Measurement of Success Example for Strategic Plan

We will measure success by looking at the sales pipeline and calculating the average length of time it takes a prospect to become closed won or closed lost.

Budget Example for Strategic Plan

You've laid out the SMART goals and the way you'll measure for success. The budget section's goal is to estimate how much investment it will take to achieve those goals. This will likely end up being a big-picture overview, broken down into a budget by a program or a summary of key investments. Consider laying it out in a table format like so:

Budget Example for Strategic Plan

  • Budgeting Templates
  • How to Write an Incredible Startup Marketing Budget

Target Customer Example for Strategic Plan

Our target customer is office managers at small- to medium-sized companies in the greater Scranton, PA area. They are buying paper for the entire office, primarily for use in office printers, custom letterhead, fax machines. They are busy managing the office and value good customer service and a fast solution for their paper needs.

  • How to Create Detailed Buyer Personas for Your Business
  • Make My Persona Tool

Outreach Strategy Example for Strategic Plan

Networking, sponsorships, and referrals will be our primary mode of outreach. We will focus on networking at regional paper conferences, HR conferences, and local office manager meetups. We will sponsor local professional events. And we will increase the volume of referrals we request from existing customers.

Create a Strategic Plan for Business Development

Without a strategic plan, you can invest resources, time, and funds into business development initiatives that won't grow your business. A strategic plan is crucial as it aligns your business development and sales teams. With a solid business development strategic plan, everyone will be working toward the greater good of your company.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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How To Write A Strategic Plan That Gets Results + Examples

outline for strategic business plan

Are you feeling overwhelmed with the thought of writing a strategic plan for your business? Do you want to create a plan that will help you move your team forward with inspired alignment and disciplined execution? You're not alone.

Gone are the days of rigid, 5- or 10-year planning cycles that do not leave room for flexibility and innovation. To stay ahead of the curve, you need a dynamic and execution-ready strategic plan that can guide your business through the ever-evolving landscape.

At Cascade, we understand that writing a strategic plan can be dreadful, especially in today's unpredictable environment. That's why we've developed a simple model that can help you create a clear, actionable plan to achieve your organization's goals. With our tested and proven strategic planning template , you can write a strategic plan that is both adaptable and effective .

Whether you're a seasoned strategy professional or a fresh strategy planner, this guide will walk you through the process step-by-step on how to write a strategic plan. By the end, you'll have a comprehensive, easy-to-follow strategic plan that will help you align your organization on the path to success.

#1 Strategy Execution Platform Don't plan to fail.  Break down the complexity of your plans from high-level initiative to  executable outcome.   Learn how. Book a demo!

Follow this guide step-by-step or skip to the part you’re most interested in: 

  • Pre-Planning Phase: Build The Foundation

Cascade Model For Strategic Planning: What You Need To Know

  • Key Elements of a Strategic Plan

How To Write A Strategic Plan In 6 Simple Steps

3 strategic plan examples to get you started, how to achieve organizational alignment with your strategic plan.

  • Quick Overview of Key Steps In Writing A Strategic Plan

Create An Execution-Ready Strategic Plan With Cascade 🚀

*Editor’s note: This article is part of our ‘How to create a Strategy’ collection. At the end of this article, you’ll find a link to each piece within this collection so you can dig deeper into each element of an effective strategic plan and more related resources to master strategy execution.

Pre-Planning Phase: Build The Foundation 

Before we dive into writing a strategic plan, it's essential to know the basics you should cover before the planning phase. The pre-planning phase is where you'll begin to gather the data and strategic insights necessary to create an effective strategic plan.

1. Run a strategic planning workshop

The first step is to run a strategic planning workshop with your team. Get your team in the room, get their data, and gather their insights. By running this workshop, you'll foster collaboration and bring fresh perspectives to the table. And that’s not all. 

The process of co-creating and collaborating to put that plan together with stakeholders is one of the most critical factors in strategy execution . According to McKinsey’s research , initiatives in which employees contribute to development are 3.4 times more likely to be successful. They feel like the plan is a result of their efforts, and they feel ownership of it, so they're more likely to execute it. 

💡 Tip: Use strategy frameworks to structure your strategy development sessions, such as GAP analysis , SWOT analysis , Porter’s Five Forces , Ansoff matrix , McKinsey 7S model , or GE matrix . You can even apply the risk matrix that will help you align and decide on key strategic priorities.

2. Choose your strategic planning model

Before creating your strategic plan, you need to decide which structure you will use. There are hundreds of ways to structure a strategic plan. You’ve likely heard of famous strategic models such as OKRs and the Balanced Scorecard .

But beyond the well-known ones, there's also a myriad of other strategic planning models ranging from the extremely simple to the absurdly complex.

Many strategic models work reasonably well on paper, but in reality, they don't show you how to write a strategic plan that fits your organization's needs.

Here are some common weaknesses most popular strategic models have:

  • They're too complicated. People get lost in terminology rather than focus on execution.
  • They don’t scale. They work well for small organizations but fail when you try to extend them across multiple teams.
  • They're too rigid. They force people to add layers for the sake of adding layers.
  • They're neither tangible nor measurable. They’re great at stating outcomes but lousy at helping you measure success.
  • They're not adaptable. As we saw in the last years, the business environment can change quickly. Your model needs to be able to work in your current situation and adapt to changing economic landscapes.

Our goal in this article is to give you a simpler, more effective way to write a strategic plan. This is a tested and proven strategic planning model that has been refined over years of working with +20,000 teams around the world. We call it the Cascade Strategy Model.

This approach has proven to be more effective than any other model we have tried when it comes to executing and implementing the strategy .

It’s easy to use and it works for small businesses, fast-growing startups, as well as multinationals trying to figure out how to write a fail-proof strategic plan.

We’ve created a simple diagram below to illustrate what a strategic plan following the Cascade Model will look like when it's completed:

The Cascade Model for strategic planning and execution

Rather than a traditional roadmap , imagine your strategy as a flowchart. Each row is a mandatory step before moving on to the next.

We call our platform  Cascade for a reason: strategy must cascade throughout an organization along with values, focus areas, and objectives.

Above all, the Cascade Model is intended to be execution-ready —in other words, it has been proven to deliver success far beyond strategic planning. It adds to a successful strategic management process.Key elements of a Strategic Plan

Key Elements Of A Strategic Plan

The key elements of a strategic plan include: 

  • Vision : Where do you want to get to? 
  • Values : How will you behave on the journey? 
  • Focus Areas : What are going to be your strategic priorities? 
  • Strategic objectives : What do you want to achieve? 
  • Actions and projects : How are you going to achieve the objectives? 
  • KPIs : How will you measure success?

In this part of the article, we will give you an overview of each element within the Cascade Model. You can follow this step-by-step process in a spreadsheet , or sign up to get instant access to a free Cascade strategic planning template and follow along as we cover the key elements of an effective strategic plan.

Your vision statement is your organization's anchor - it defines where you want to get to and is the executive summary of your organization's purpose. Without it, your strategic plan is like a boat without a rudder, at the mercy of strong winds and currents like Covid and global supply chain disruptions.

A good vision statement can help funnel your strategy towards long-term goals that matter the most to your organization, and everything you write in your plan from this point on will help you get closer to achieving your vision.

Trying to do too much at once is a surefire way to sink your strategic plan. By creating a clear and inspiring vision statement , you can avoid this trap and provide guidance and inspiration for your team. A great vision statement might even help attract talent and investment into your organization.

For example, a bike manufacturing company might have a vision statement like, “To be the premier bike manufacturer in the Pacific Northwest.” This statement clearly articulates the organization's goals and is a powerful motivator for the team.

In short, don't start your strategic plan without a clear vision statement. It will keep your organization focused and help you navigate toward success.

📚 Recommended read: How to Write a Vision Statement (With Examples, Tips, and Formulas)

Values are the enablers of your vision statement —they represent how your organization will behave as you work towards your strategic goals. Unfortunately, many companies throw around meaningless words just for the purpose of PR, leading to a loss of credibility.

To avoid this, make sure to integrate your organization’s core values into everyday operations and interactions. In today's highly-competitive world, it's crucial to remain steadfast in your values and cultivate an organizational culture that's transparent and trustworthy.

Companies with the best company cultures consistently outperform competitors and their average market by up to 115.6%, as reported by Glassdoor . 

For example, a bike manufacturing company might have core values like:

  • Accountability

These values reflect the organization's desire to become the leading bike manufacturer, while still being accountable to employees, customers, and shareholders.

👉 Here’s how to add vision and values to your strategic plan in Cascade: 

After you sign up and invite your team members to collaborate on the plan, navigate to Plans and Teams > Teams page, and add the vision, mission and values. This will help you to ensure that the company’s vision, mission statement, and values are always at top of mind for everyone.

📚When you're ready to start creating some company values, check out our guide, How To Create Company Values .

3. Focus Areas

Your focus areas are the strategic priorities that will keep your team on track and working toward the company’s mission and vision. They represent the high-level areas that you need to focus on to achieve desired business outcomes.

In fact, companies with clearly defined priorities are more likely to achieve their objectives. According to a case study by the Harvard Business Review , teams that focus on a small number of key initiatives are more likely to succeed than those that try to do too much. 

That’s also something that we usually recommend to our customers when they set up their strategic plan in Cascade. Rather than spreading your resources too thin over multiple focus areas, prioritize three to five. 

Following our manufacturing example above, some good focus areas include:

  • Aggressive growth
  • Producing the nation's best bikes
  • Becoming a modern manufacturer
  • Becoming a top place to work

Your focus areas should be tighter in scope than your vision statement, but broader than specific goals, time frames, or metrics. 

By defining your focus areas, you'll give your teams a guardrail to work within, which can help inspire innovation and creative problem-solving. 

With a clear set of focus areas, your team will be better able to prioritize their work and stay focused on the most important things, which will ultimately lead to better business results.

👉Here’s how you can set focus areas in Cascade: 

In Cascade, you can add focus areas while creating or importing an existing strategic plan from a spreadsheet. With Cascade’s Focus Area deep-dive functionality , you will be able to: 

  • Review the health of your focus areas in one place.
  • Get a breakdown by plans, budgets, resources, and people behind each strategic priority. 
  • See something at-risk? Drill down into each piece of work regardless of how many plans it's a part of.

add focus areas in cascade strategy execution platform

📚 Recommended read: Strategic Focus Areas: How to create them + Examples

4. Strategic Objectives

The importance of setting clear and specific objectives for your strategic plan cannot be overstated. 

Strategic objectives are the specific and measurable outcomes you want to achieve . While they should align with your focus areas, they should be more detailed and have a clear deadline. 

According to the 2022 State of High Performing Teams report , there is a strong correlation between goals and success not only at the individual and team level but also at the organizational level. Here’s what they found: 

  • Employees who are unaware of their company's goals are over three times more likely to work at a company that is experiencing a decline in revenue than employees who are aware of the goals. 
  • Companies with shrinking revenues are almost twice as likely to have employees with unclear work expectations. 

Jumping straight into actions without defining clear objectives is a common mistake that can lead to missed opportunities or misalignment between strategy and execution.

To avoid this pitfall, we recommend you add between three and six objectives to each focus area .

It's here that we need to start being a bit more specific for the first time in your strategic planning process . Let's take a look at an example of a well-written strategic objective:

  • Continue top-line growth that outpaces the industry by 31st Dec 2023.

This is too specific to be a focus area. While it's still very high level, it indicates what the company wants to accomplish and includes a clear deadline. Both these aspects are critical to a good strategic objective.

Your strategic objectives are the heart and soul of your plan, and you need to ensure they are well-crafted. So, take the time to create well-planned objectives that will help you achieve your vision and lead your organization to success. 

👉Here’s how you can set objectives in Cascade: 

Adding objectives in Cascade is intuitive, straightforward, and accessible from almost anywhere in the workspace. With one click, you’ll open the objective sidebar and fill out the details. These can include a timeline, the objective’s owner, collaborators, and how your objective will be measured (success criteria).

📚 Recommended read: What are Strategic Objectives? How to write them + Examples

5. Actions and projects

Once you’ve defined your strategic objectives, the next step is to identify the specific strategic initiatives or projects that will help you achieve those objectives . They are short-term goals or actionable steps you or your team members will take to accomplish objectives. They should leverage the company’s resources and core competencies. 

Effective projects and actions in your strategic plan should: 

  • Be extremely specific. 
  • Contain a deadline.
  • Have an owner.
  • Align with at least one of your strategic objectives.
  • Provide clarity on how you or your team will achieve the strategic objective.

Let's take a look at an example of a well-written project continuing with our bike manufacturing company using the strategic objective from above:

Strategic objective: Continue top-line growth that outpaces the industry by 31st Dec 2023.

Project: Expand into the fixed gear market by 31st December 2023.

This is more specific than the objective it links to, and it details what you will do to achieve the objective.

Another common problem area for strategic plans is that they never quite get down to the detail of what you're going to do.

It's easier to state "we need to grow our business," but without concrete projects and initiatives, those plans will sit forever within their PowerPoint templates, never to see the light of day after their initial creation.

Actions and projects are where the rubber meets the road. They connect the organizational strategic goals with the actual capabilities of your people and the resources at their disposal. Defining projects is a vital reality check every strategic plan needs.

👉Here’s how you create actions and projects in Cascade: 

From the Objective sidebar, you can choose to add a project or action under your chosen objective. In the following steps, you can assign an owner and timeline to each action or project.

Plus, in Cascade, you can track the progress of each project or action in four different ways. You can do it manually, via milestones, checklists, or automatically by integrating with Jira and 1000+ other available integrations .  

📚 Recommended read: How to create effective projects

Measuring progress towards strategic objectives is essential to effective strategic control and business success. That's where Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come in. KPIs are measurable values that track progress toward achieving key business objectives . They keep you on track and help you stay focused on the goals you set for your organization.

To get the most out of your KPIs, make sure you link them to a specific goal or objective. In this way, you'll avoid creating KPIs that don't contribute to your objectives and distract you from focusing on what matters. 

Ideally, you will add both leading and lagging KPIs to each objective so you can get a more balanced view of how well you're progressing. Leading KPIs can indicate future performance while lagging KPIs show how well you’ve done in the past. Both types of KPIs are critical for operational planning and keeping your business on track.

Think of KPIs as a form of signpost in your organization. They provide critical insights that inform business leaders of their organization’s progress toward key business objectives. Plus, they can help you identify opportunities faster and capitalize on flexibility. 

👉Here’s how you can set and track KPIs in Cascade: 

In Cascade , you can add measures while creating your objectives or add them afterward. Open the Objective sidebar and add your chosen measure. 

When you create your Measure, you can choose how to track it. Using Cascade, you can track it manually or automatically. You can automate tracking via 1000+ integrations , including Excel spreadsheets and Google Sheets. In this way, you can save time and ensure that your team has up-to-date information for faster and more confident decision-making.

📚 Recommended reads:

  • 10 Popular KPI Software Tools To Connect & Visualize Your Data (2023 Guide)
  • ‍ How To Track KPIs To Hit Your Business Goals

Corporate Strategic Plan 

Following the steps outlined above, you should end up with a strategic plan that looks something like this:

corporate strategy plan template in cascade

This is a preview of a corporate strategic plan template that is pre-filled with examples. Here you can use the template for free and begin filling it out to align with your organization's needs. Plus, it’s suitable for organizations of all sizes and any industry. 

Once you fill in the template, you can also switch to the timeline view. You’ll get a complete overview of how the different parts of your plan are distributed across the roadmap in a Gantt chart view.

timeline view strategic planning corporate strategy

This template will help you create a structured approach to the strategic planning process, focus on key strategic priorities, and drive accountability to achieve necessary business outcomes. 

👉 Get your free corporate strategic plan template here.

Coca-Cola Strategic Plan 

Need a bit of extra inspiration to start writing your organization’s strategic plan? Check out this strategic plan example, inspired by Coca-Cola’s business plan: 

coca-cola strategy plan template in cascade

This template is pre-filled with Coca-Cola’s examples so you can inspire your strategic success on one of the most iconic brands on the planet. 

👉 Grab your free example of a Coca-Cola strategic plan here.

The Ramsay Health Care expansion strategy

Ramsay Health Care is a multinational healthcare provider with a strong presence in Australia, Europe, and Asia.

Almost all of its growth was organic and strategic. The company founded its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, but in the 21st century, it decided to expand globally through a primary strategy of making brownfield investments and acquisitions in key locations.

Ramsay's strategy was simple yet clever. By becoming a majority shareholder of the biggest local players, the company expanded organically in each region by leveraging and expanding their expertise.

Over the last two decades, Ramsay's global network has grown to 460 locations across 10 countries with over $13 billion in annual revenue.

📚 Recommended read: Strategy study: The Ramsay Health Care Growth Study

✨ Bonus resource: We've created a list of the most popular and free strategic plan templates in our library that will help you build a strategic plan based on the Cascade model explained in this article. You can use these templates to create a plan on a corporate, business unit, or team level.

We highlighted before that other strategic models often fail to scale strategic plans and goals scales across multiple teams and organizational levels. 

In an ideal world, you want to have a maximum of two layers of detail underneath each of your focus areas. This means you'll have a focus area, followed by a layer of objectives. Underneath the objectives, you'll have a layer of actions, projects, and KPIs.

Diagram of the Cascade Model framework showing the structure for focus areas, objectives, KPIs, actions and projects

If you have a single team that’s responsible for the strategy execution, this works well. However, how do you implement a strategy across multiple and cross-functional teams? And why is it important? 

According to LSA research of 410 companies across 8 industries, highly aligned companies grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable. And this is what Cascade can help you achieve. 

To achieve achieve organization-wide alignment with your strategic plan and impact the bottom line, there are two ways to approach it in Casade: through contributing objectives or shared objectives .

1. Contributing objectives

This approach involves adding contributing objectives that link to your main strategic objectives, like this:

diagram showing contributing objectives in the cascade model

For each contributing objective, you simply repeat the Objective → Action/Project → KPI structure as follows:

contributing objectives with kpis and actions cascade model

Here's how you can create contributing objectives in Cascade: 

Option A: Create contributing objectives within the same plan 

This means creating multiple contributing objectives within the same strategic plan that contribute to the main objective. 

However, be aware that if you have a lot of layers, your strategic plan can become cluttered, and people might have difficulty understanding how their daily efforts contribute to the strategic plan at the top level. 

For example, the people responsible for managing contributing objectives at the bottom of the plan ( functional / operational level ) will lose visibility on how are their objectives linked to the main focus areas and objectives (at a corporate / business level ). 

This approach is best suited to smaller organizations that only need to add a few layers of objectives to their plan.

Option B: Create contributing objectives from multiple plans linking to the main objective

This approach creates a network of aligned strategic plans within your organization. Each plan contains a set of focus areas and one single layer of objectives, each with its own set of projects, actions, and KPIs. This concept looks like this:

Diagram showing contributing objectives from multiple plans linking to the main objective in Cascade

This example illustrates an objective that is a main objective in the IT strategic plan , but also contributes to the main strategic plan's objective.

For example, let’s say that your main business objective is to improve customer satisfaction by reducing product delivery time by 25% in the next quarter. This objective requires multiple operational teams within your organization to work together to achieve a shared objective. 

Each team will create its own objective in its plan to contribute to the main objective: 

  • Logistics team: Reduce the shipment preparation time by 30%
  • IT team: Implement new technology to reduce manual handling in the warehouse
  • Production team: Increase production output by hour for 5%   

Here’s how this example would look like within Cascade platform:

example of contributing objectives in cascade

Although each contributing objective was originally created in its own plan, you can see how each contributing objective relates to the main strategic objective and its status in real-time.

2. Shared objectives

In Cascade, shared objectives are the same objectives shared across different strategic plans.

For example, you can have an objective that is “Achieve sustainable operations”. This objective can be part of the Corporate Strategy Plan, but also part of the Operations Plan , Supply Chain Plan , Production Plan, etc. In short, this objective becomes a shared objective between multiple teams and strategic plan. 

This approach helps you to:

  • Cascade your business strategy as deep as you want across a near-infinite number of people while maintaining strategic alignment throughout your organization .
  • Create transparency and a much higher level of engagement in the strategy throughout your organization since objective owners are able to identify how their shared efforts contribute to the success of the main business objectives.

The more shared objectives you have across your organization, the more your teams will be aligned with the overarching business strategy. This is what we call " alignment health ”. 

Here’s how you can see the shared objectives in the alignment map and analyze alignment health within Cascade:

Alignment Map and Objective Sidebar in cascade for shared objectives

You get a snapshot of how is your corporate strategic plan aligned with sub-plans from different business units or departments and the status of shared objectives. This helps you quickly identify misaligned initiatives and act before it’s too late.  Plus, cross-functional teams have better visibility of how their efforts contribute to shared objectives. 

So whether you choose contributing objectives or shared objectives, Cascade has the tools and features to help you achieve organization-wide alignment and boost your bottom line.

Quick Overview Of Key Steps In Writing A Strategic Plan

Here’s a quick infographic to help you remember how everything connects and why each element is critical to creating an effective strategic plan:

The Cascade Model Overview cheatsheet

This simple answer to how to write a strategic plan avoids confusing jargon and has elements that the whole organization can both get behind and understand. 

💡Tip: Save this image or bookmark this article for your next strategic planning session.

If you're struggling to write an execution-ready strategic plan, the Cascade model is the solution you've been looking for. With its clear, easy-to-understand terminology, and simple linkages between objectives, projects, and KPIs, you can create a plan that's both scalable and flexible.

But why is a flexible and execution-ready strategic plan so important? It's simple: without a clear and actionable plan, you'll never be able to achieve your business objectives. By using the Cascade Strategic Planning Model, you'll be able to create a plan that's both tangible and measurable, with KPIs that help you track progress towards your goals.

However, the real value of the Cascade framework lies in its flexibility . By creating links between main business objectives and your teams’ objectives, you can easily scale your plan without losing focus. Plus, the model's structure of linked layers means that you can always adjust your strategy in response to new challenges or opportunities and keep everyone on the same page. 

So if you want to achieve results with your strategic plan, start using Cascade today. With its unique combination of flexibility and focus, it's the perfect tool for any organization looking to master strategy execution and succeed in today's fast-paced business world. 

Want to see Cascade in action? Get started for free or book a 1:1 demo with Cascade’s in-house strategy expert.

This article is part one of our mini-series "How to Write a Strategic Plan". This first article will give you a solid strategy model for your plan and get the strategic thinking going.

Think of it as the foundation for your new strategy. Subsequent parts of the series will show you how to create the content for your strategic plan.

Articles in our How to Write a Strategic Plan series

  • How To Write A Strategic Plan: The Cascade Model (This article)
  • How to Write a Good Vision Statement
  • How To Create Company Values
  • Creating Strategic Focus Areas
  • How To Write Strategic Objective
  • How To Create Effective Projects
  • How To Write KPIs + Ultimate Guide To Strategic Planning

More resources on strategic planning and strategy execution: 

  • 6 Steps to Successful Strategy Execution
  • 4-Step Strategy Reporting Process (With Template)
  • Annual Planning: Plan Like a Pro In 5 Steps (+ Template) 
  • 18 Free Strategic Plan Templates (Excel & Cascade) 2023
  • The Right Way To Set Team Goals
  • 23 Best Strategy Tools For Your Organization in 2023

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Use This Simple Business Plan Outline to Organize Your Plan

Male and female entrepreneur sitting at a table with two other team members. Reviewing a business plan outline to discuss the main components they need to cover.

12 min. read

Updated October 27, 2023

When starting a business, having a well-thought-out business plan prepared is necessary for success . It helps guide your strategy and prepares you to overcome the obstacles and risks associated with entrepreneurship. In short, a business plan makes you more likely to succeed.

However, like everything in business, starting is often the hardest part. What information do you need? How in-depth should each section be? How should the plan be structured?

All good questions that you can answer by following this business plan outline. 

  • What is a business plan outline?

A business plan outline is similar to a template for a business plan . It lists the common sections that all business plans should include.

A traditional business plan typically includes an executive summary, an overview of your products and services, thorough market research, a competitive analysis, a marketing and sales strategy, operational and company details, financial projections, and an appendix. 

  • Why is a business plan outline important?

Starting with a business plan outline helps ensure that you’re including all of the necessary information for a complete business plan. 

But, depending on what you intend to do with your plan, you may not need all of this information right away. If you’re going to speak with investors or pursue funding, then yes, you’ll need to include everything from this outline. But, if you’re using your plan to test an idea or help run your business, you may want to opt for a one-page plan . This is a simpler and faster method that is designed to be updated and used day-to-day. 

If you’re unsure of which plan is right for you, check out our guide explaining the differences and use cases for each plan type . 

  • 10 key sections in a standard business plan outline

No matter the type of business plan you create, these are the ten basic sections you should include. Be sure to download your free business plan template to start drafting your own plan as you work through this outline.

Business Plan Outline Example Graphic with 10 unique components. A standard business plan outline will include the executive summary, products and services, market analysis, competition, marketing and sales, operations, milestones and metrics, company overview, financial plan, and appendix sections.

1. Executive summary

While it may appear first, it’s best to write your executive summary last. It’s a brief section that highlights the high-level points you’ve made elsewhere in your business plan.

Summarize the problem you are solving for customers, your solution, the target market, your team that’s building the business, and financial forecast highlights. Keep things as brief as possible and entice your audience to learn more about your company. 

Keep in mind, this is the first impression your plan and business will make. After looking over your executive summary, your reader is either going to throw your business plan away or keep reading. So make sure you spend the time to get it just right.

What’s your biggest business challenge right now?

2. products and services.

Start the products and services section of your business plan by describing the problem you are solving for your customer. Next, describe how you solve that problem with your product or service. 

If you’ve already made some headway selling your solution, detail that progress here—this is called “traction”. You can also describe any intellectual property or patents that you have if that’s an important part of your business.

3. Market analysis 

You need to know your target market —the types of customers you are looking for—and how it’s changing.

Use the market analysis section of your business plan to discuss the size of your market—how many potential customers exist for your business—and if your potential customers can be segmented into different groups, such as age groups or some other demographic.

4. Competition

Describe your competition in this section. If you don’t have any direct competitors, describe what your customers currently do to solve the problem that your product fixes. 

If you have direct competition, detail what your strengths and weaknesses are in comparison, and how you’ll differentiate from what is already available. 

5. Marketing and sales

Use this business plan section to outline your marketing and sales plan —how you’ll reach your target customers and what the process will be for selling to them.

You’ll want to cover your market position, marketing activities, sales channels, and your pricing strategy. This will likely evolve over time, but it’s best to include anything that clearly details how you will sell and promote your products and services. 

6. Operations

What’s included in the operations section really depends on the type of business you are planning for. If your business has a physical location or other facilities, you’ll want to describe them here. If your business relies heavily on technology or specific equipment or tools, you should describe that technology or equipment here.

You can also use this section to describe your supply chain if that’s an important aspect of your business. 

7. Milestones and metrics

In a business, milestones are important goals that you are setting for your business. They may be important launch dates, or a timeline of when you’ll get regulatory approval—if that’s something you need for your business. Use this section of your plan to describe those milestones and the roadmap you are planning to follow.

You can also describe important metrics for your business, such as the number of sales leads you expect to get each month or the percentage of leads that will become customers.

8. Company overview and team

The company and team section of your plan is an overview of who you are.

It should describe the organization of your business, and the key members of the management team. It should also provide any historical background about your business. For example, you’ll describe when your company was founded, who the owners are, what state your company is registered in and where you do business, and when/if your company was incorporated.

Be sure to include summaries of your key team members’ backgrounds and experience—these should act like brief resumes—and describe their functions with the company. You should also include any professional gaps you intend to fill with new employees.

9. Financial plan and forecasts

Your financial plan should include a sales forecast, profit and loss, cash flow projections, and balance sheet, along with a brief description of the assumptions you’re making with your projections.

If you are raising money or taking out loans, you should highlight the money you need to launch the business. This part should also include a use of funds report—basically an overview of how the funding will be used in business operations. 

And while it’s not required, it may be wise to briefly mention your exit strategy . This doesn’t need to be overly detailed, just a general idea of how you may eventually want to exit your business. 

10. Appendix

The end of your business plan should include any additional information to back up specific elements of your plan. More detailed financial statements, resumes for your management team, patent documentation, credit histories, marketing examples, etc. 

  • Detailed business plan outline

If you’re looking for greater insight into what goes into specific planning sections, check out the following outline for a business plan. It can help you develop a detailed business plan or provide guidance as to what may be missing from your current plan. 

Keep in mind that every business plan will look a bit different because every business is unique. After all, business planning is to help you be more successful, so focus on the sections that are most beneficial to your business and skip the sections that aren’t useful or don’t apply. 

To help, we’ve marked sections that are truly optional with an *.

Executive summary

Company purpose / mission statement.

A very brief description of what your business does and/or what its mission is.

Problem We Solve

A summary of the problem you are solving and an identifiable need in the market you are filling.

Our Solution

A description of the product or service you will provide to solve the problem.

Target Market

A defined customer base who will most likely purchase the product or service.

Briefly describe who is behind the business.

Financial Summary

A short overview of revenue goals and profitability timeline.

If you’ve already started selling your product or service, highlight important initial details here.

Funding Needed*

If you are raising money for your business, describe how much capital you need.

Products & Services

Problem worth solving.

A thorough description of the problem or pain points you intend to solve for your customer base. 

A thorough description of your proposed product or service that alleviates the problem for your customer base.

Describe any initial evidence that your customers are excited to spend money on your solution. Initial sales or signed contracts are good signs.

Intellectual Property/Patents*

If this is important for your business, outline it here.

Regulatory Requirements*

If government approval is required for your business, explain the details and timeline.

Future Products and Services*

What products and services might you offer in the future once your initial products and services are successful?

Market Size & Segments

How many potential customers do you have and what potential groups of customers are separated by specific characteristics?

Market Trends*

How consumers in your target market tend to act including purchasing habits, financial trends, and any other relevant factors.

Market Growth*

The perceived potential increase or decrease in the size of your target market.

Industry Analysis*

If your industry is changing or adjusting over time, describe those changes.

Key Customers*

If your business relies on certain important customers, describe who they are here.

Future Markets*

A snapshot of the potential market based on the last few sections and how your business strategy works within it.

Competition 

Current alternatives.

A list of potential competitors. Identifying the competition isn’t always obvious and it may take some digging on your part.

Our Advantages

The strategic advantage(s) that makes your target market more likely to choose you over the competition. 

Barriers to Entry*

If there’s anything that makes it more difficult for other people to start competing with you, describe those barriers.

Marketing & Sales

Market positioning.

Where do your products or services fit into the market? Are you the low-price leader or the premium option?

Unique value proposition*

What’s special about your offering that makes your customers want to choose it over the competition.

Marketing Plan

An outline of your marketing and advertising strategy including costs, advertising channels, and goals.

How do you sell your product or service? Self-serve or with a team of sales representatives?

Pricing Strategy*

Describe your pricing and how it compares to alternatives in the market.

Distribution*

Describe how your product gets in front of customers. Are you selling in stores and online? Which retailers?

SWOT Analysis*

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Location & Facilities

If you have a physical presence, describe where and what it is.

What technology is crucial for your business success?

Equipment & Tools

If special equipment or tools are needed for your business, describe them here.

Sourcing and fulfillment*

If you purchase your products or parts for your products from somewhere else, describe that sourcing and supply chain.

Partners and Resources*

If you have key partners that you work with to make your business a success, describe who they are and what services or products they provide.

Milestones and metrics

A detailed roadmap of specific goals and objectives you plan to achieve will help you manage and steer your business.

Key metrics

Performance measurements that help you gauge the overall performance and health of your business.

Company overview and team

Organizational structure.

An overview of the legal structure of your business. 

Company history and ownership

A summary of your company’s history and how it relates to planning your business.

Management team

The team that is starting or running your business and why they are uniquely qualified to make the business a success.

Management team gaps

Key positions that your business will need to fill to make it successful.

Financial plan and forecast

Projected profit and loss.

How much money you will bring in by selling products and/or services and how much profit you will make or lose after accounting for costs and expenses.

Projected cash flow

How and when cash moves in and out of your business. This also includes your overall cash position.

Projected balance sheet

Expected balances for business assets, liabilities, and equity.

Use of funds

If you are raising money either through loans or investment, explain how funds will be used. This is typically meant to be shared with investors or lenders.

Exit strategy

A brief explanation of how you intend to eventually exit from your business. This could include selling the business, going public, transitioning the business to a family member/employee, etc.

A repository for any additional information, including charts and graphs, to support your business plan.

Business plan outline FAQ

How do you organize your business plan?

There’s no real established order to business plans, aside from keeping the Executive Summary at the top. As long as you have all of the main business plan components, then the order should reflect your goals. 

If this is meant solely for your personal use, lay it out as a roadmap with similar sections grouped together for easy reference. If you’re pitching this to potential investors, lead with the stronger sections to emphasize the pitch. Then if you’re unsure of what order makes sense, then just stick to the outline in this article.

Should you include tables and charts in your business plan?

Every business plan should include bar charts and pie charts to illustrate the numbers. It’s a simple way for you, your team, and investors to visualize and digest complex financial information.

Cash flow is the single most important numerical analysis in a business plan, and a standard cash flow statement or table should never be missing. Most standard business plans also include a sales forecast and income statement (also called profit and loss), and a balance sheet.

How long should your business plan be?

There’s no perfect length for a business plan. A traditional business plan can be anywhere from 10 to 50 pages long depending on how much detail you include in each section. However, as we said before unless you intend to pursue funding, you likely don’t need a lengthy business plan at first.

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Content Author: Tim Berry

Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software , a co-founder of Borland International, and a recognized expert in business planning. He has an MBA from Stanford and degrees with honors from the University of Oregon and the University of Notre Dame. Today, Tim dedicates most of his time to blogging, teaching and evangelizing for business planning.

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15+ Business Plan Templates for Strategic Planning

By Joan Ang , Feb 17, 2022

business plan template

If you’ve just had a new business idea that’s worth funding, or come up with a marketing strategy that can double your company’s revenue — it’s time to put your great ideas down on paper using a professional business plan template. 

Take a look at Venngage’s fully customizable, easy-to-edit  business plan templates  that can help you bring that one-of-a-kind idea to life. Simply pick a template you like and start editing for free — no design experience required.

Click to jump ahead:

Detailed & professional business plan samples, crisis management and continuity business plans, simple business plan templates for beginners, faqs about business plans.

If you’ve already got all your data and information ready and just looking to transform them into a compelling, professional business plan, here are the templates for you. All of these templates are populated with meaningful information that can easily guide your inspiration and help you create your own business plan in no time.

Related : 15+ Business Plan Examples to Win Your Next Round of Funding

Monochromatic architecture business plan template

business plan template

Monochromatic colors allow you to highlight many details easily without making them shine or stand out too much from the other elements. It does take some delicate layout and asset planning, though. Luckily, you can just leave these details alone by editing the name of this report and the data it contains. Easily edit this template using Venngage’s convenient template editor.

If you’re not in love with this color scheme, you can always change it using My Brand Kit . Have your brand colors and logos automatically extracted with Autobrand:

And add them to your business plan design in one click:

Simple interior design business plan template

business plan template

Image-centric, magazine-style strategic business plans always grab attention without being intimidating. The cover image sells the content that includes your plan’s executive summary, approach and eventually the deliverables. 

If you want to replace the cover photo with one of your office’s, simply double click the photo and upload your own:

Red simple business plan template

business plan template

Strategic business plans don’t have to look like top-secret government documents that are “for your eyes only.” They can attain magazine-level attractiveness by using a coherent theme, such as this free business plan template that you can fully customize. 

The red, high-contrast appeal of this theme, text layout and overall format make it a splendid choice for a comprehensive strategic business plan template.

Related : How to Create a Business Plan to Win Over Investors (7+ Business Plan Templates)

Green interior design business plan template

business plan template

The color green is always easy on our eyes  because they’re sensitive to it . The neutral green theme of this template makes it easy to focus on the cover image’s layout and theme. Plus, the paragraphs on the text are easy to understand, thanks to the neutral colors and magazine-style layout. 

Minimalist architecture business plan template

business plan template

Minimalism is a beautiful design concept because it showcases the power of layouts when it comes to documents and presentations. The concept is pleasing because it gives low visual stimulation while maximizing the focus on vital information in your reports. 

Design consultant business plan template

business plan template

While it has a strong magazine feel to it, this Venngage template has a topic-oriented characteristic because of its text-heavy sections that still appear pleasing to view and read. The template relies on the clever use of images, white spaces and icons. Exchange these assets easily by using Venngage’s web-accessible editor.

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Crisis management requires swift organization and work. We know you’re under a lot of pressure when you’re going to use these templates for your presentation, so we made sure that they’re presentation-ready that require minimal edits. They’re all free business plan templates as well!

Simple crisis communications plan template

business plan template

Here’s a quick crisis communication plan you can use in any impending report. 

If you’re not familiar with creating a crisis communication plan, this free business plan template already contains all the sections you need: table of contents, escalation frameworks, roles and responsibilities, and tips to maintain an effective response plan.

Related : 10+ Crisis Communication Plan Templates for Leaders + Managers

Crisis communications plan template

business plan template

Urgent planning situations won’t need you to sacrifice style and coherence with a paragraph-heavy layout. Sure, we can do away with the photos to maintain our reader’s focus, but we can use a bullet layout with subheaders, bullet points and more. 

A light-colored theme makes it easy for readers to comprehend the colors. While this template focuses on crisis control, you can change its purpose by customizing its elements using Venngage’s built-in web editor.

Emergency response plan template

business plan template

This Venngage template is perfect for plans on how to deal with emergency situations. The template focuses on content and uses minimal colors and contrasts to set the reader’s focus on each data detail. 

If you’re in a hurry to set up your strategic business plan, you can edit this template’s content with Venngage’s easy-access editor within minutes before your presentation.

Not sure where to start with designing your business plan? No graphic designer to help you out? These beginner strategic business planning templates for Venngage guarantee a presentation-ready report in no time. Just use its built-in editor to change some small details to suit your brand, and you’re all set!

Yellow simple business plan template

business plan template

Readers want a seamless reading experience, which means authors must have an excellent document layout with related photos that don’t take away the spotlight from the project data. This Venngage template is perfect for such a purpose because it has an excellent balance of content and images. Fully customize it with Venngage’s built-in editor.

Simple gaming business plan template

business plan template

You’re probably too busy testing games or even playing games to make a layout. But, your department needs you to create a games-related strategic plan. Say no more because here’s a template that’s made just for this purpose. If this layout isn’t perfect enough for your needs, you can always use the web editor to switch out assets and data.

Contracting company business plan template

business plan template

If you’re quite busy with your daily work, you can always use pre-made layouts for your upcoming strategic planning presentation. This Venngage template is text-heavy and uses icons, but construction contractors will want to use these so that their clients have complete information on the project. Customize this as your project needs with the help of Venngage’s powerful web editor.

Professional business action plan template

business plan template

Beginners can have an excellent magazine-style report appeal using this Venngage template. With an attractive cover photo and excellent use of negative space, this template can help you make professional reports without sacrificing time and substance. You can fully customize this template with Venngage’s top-notch web editor.

Colorful hospitality business plan template

business plan template

The hospitality industry knows plenty about design, layouts and the effective use of assets. This Venngage template uses a wide color palette that gives it a basic appeal to readers and helps the latter focus on the topic and data. If the colors don’t work for you, or you have a better idea about the fonts and layout, you can fully customize this template with Venngage’s convenient web editor.

Business consultant continuity plan template

business plan template

Need to present a plan on how to continue operations during emergency situations? This template should help. Photos have a great role to play because they set the mood and background for the report. Some reports are suitably photo-centric, while some, such as this Venngage template, work well with minimal or background use. 

You can switch out the template’s banners, data, and fonts using Venngage’s built-in editor.

Got some questions about business plans? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

What’s a long-term strategic business plan?

Everyone makes plans that have a set of steps and approaches that lead to your ultimate goal. It’s the same for business plans.

A business plan is a written document that outlines a company’s strategy for success, including its mission statements, its vision, operational plans and financial projections. These plans give your business a clear, short-term direction with dedicated sets of processes and procedures that can improve the business’s production and efficiency to meet its short and medium-term goals.

What’s included in an effective business plan?

A professional business plan typically has the following sections: 

  • Table of Contents
  • Executive summary
  • Company description
  • Market analysis
  • Organization and management
  • Service or product line
  • Marketing and sales
  • Funding request
  • Financial projections
  • An appendix

A business plan can span a dozen or more pages because it presents the big picture, as complete as possible, to reassure others to invest in you.

For more information on how to create the best business plan, visit our post: How to Create a Business Plan to Win Over Investors (7+ Business Plan Templates)

In summary: Unlock your business’s potential with these business plan templates

It can be difficult to create the right business plan, especially when you’re not sure what it should look like. Rest assured, because we have tons of business plan templates that are full of meaningful information to help you.

Choose one of Venngage’s professional, fully customizable business plan templates and start adding your data, and you’ll have your own business plan in no time. No design experience required.

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6 Steps to Make Your Strategic Plan Really Strategic

  • Graham Kenny

outline for strategic business plan

You don’t need dozens of strategic goals.

Many strategic plans aren’t strategic, or even plans. To fix that, try a six step process: first, identify key stakeholders. Second, identify a specific, very important key stakeholder: your target customer. Third, figure out what these stakeholders want from you. Fourth, figure out what you want from them. Fifth, design your strategy around these requirements. Sixth, focus on continuously improving this plan.

Why is it that when a group of managers gets together for a strategic planning session they often emerge with a document that’s devoid of “strategy”, and often not even a plan ?

outline for strategic business plan

  • Graham Kenny is CEO of  Strategic Factors and author of the book Strategy Discovery.   He is a recognized expert in strategy and performance measurement who helps managers, executives, and boards create successful organizations in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. He has been a professor of management in universities in the U.S., and Canada.  You can connect to or follow him on  LinkedIn .

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Strategic Plan Template

Use this free Strategic Plan Template for Word to manage your projects better.

outline for strategic business plan

When a company wants to map out its long-term business objectives and how it’ll get there, they use a strategic plan. Our free strategic plan template captures all topics that any company needs to define, so everything is aligned with the overall mission and vision of the company. More than that, the free strategic plan template guides you through the actions, resources and costs that will help you get there.

What Is a Strategic Plan?

A strategic plan is a document that company leaders use to capture the company’s future vision, goals and objectives. Unlike a business plan that focuses on short-term goals of serval months to several years, a strategic plan looks at the mid-to-long-term goals such as 3-5 years but is often longer than that.

The strategic plan should be easily shared as it provides a map for the whole company to follow in order to meet its goals. The strategic plan isn’t only shared, but it’s thoroughly understood by company employees, customers, business partners and investors.

ProjectManager's free strategic plan template

Strategic planning and the strategic plan that comes from this process isn’t a one-time occurrence. Teams should conduct strategic planning regularly to quickly respond to changes in the business, industry, legal and regulatory conditions. As conditions shift, so should the response plans.

Why You Need a Strategic Plan Template

A strategic plan template is a great tool in that it’s already laid out for you. Everything you need to define is outlined and saves you the time and effort of creating a new document. Templates are great for creating an archive of consistent documentation, especially as historical data can influence your current strategic plan.

In more general terms, all businesses need a target or direction to work towards. Strategic plans are like the roadmap that gets you there and defines the landscape. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never know when you get there. That’s true from the highest executive to the newest employee as well as customers, investors and so on.

Strategic plans also help you track your goals across departments. Each department can then set its own goals to help the business achieve its larger goals. These various initiatives can be monitored and tracked with key performance indicators (KPIs). This can be extended to business units, teams and even individuals so everyone is working towards the same goals.

A strategic plan template is only a static document. To implement that plan you need project management software. ProjectManager has online roadmaps that allow you to manage all the projects that feed into your company’s overall mission. You can track your tasks, budgets, resources, processes and more, so you know you’re always progressing. Of course, you can build a strategic plan with milestones in the software, too. Try ProjectManager today for free.

Roadmap with a strategic plan

Who Should Use This Strategic Plan Template?

The free strategic plan template can be filled in by any number of people depending on the business. Usually, though, this responsibility falls on the shoulders of the owner or top business managers.

However, sometimes specialists are employed or the whole company becomes involved in the strategic planning process. In fact, more voices provide a wider perspective. One person should oversee refining those different perspectives in order to rein in the possible chaos of too many chefs in the kitchen.

Once the strategic plan is finalized, it should be shared among the company. The strategic plan template acts as a guide to keep the long-term goal in sight and how to get there. For some businesses, the customer should also be aware of the strategic plan. Other companies will want to share the strategic plan with investors.

How to Use This Strategic Plan Template

When you download our free strategic plan template for Word, you’ll find it’s broken up into sections. The free template is completely customizable so you can add or subtract as many sections as you need to flesh out your strategic plan. What we provide you with is the backbone of any thorough strategic plan, which is as follows.

1. Executive Summary

To start, you want to summarize what will follow. That’s all the executive summary is; a short introduction to the important information that’ll be fleshed out in the strategic plan. It gives an overview to investors and stakeholders.

2. Vision Statement

A vision statement is a statement that declares the mid-to-long-term goals of the company. Think of it as the target you want to hit with your strategic plan. What this statement should do is project your company into the future and in so doing help to define the plan and execution of getting you there.

3. Mission Statement

The mission statement is a short description of the purpose of the company. It should be no longer than one to three sentences at most and explain what the company does, who it serves and how it’s different from its competitors. But more than a dry definition, it should be inspirational, offering direction and focus for employees and giving customers a clear picture of what they can expect from the company.

4. SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A SWOT analysis is used to assess those four aspects of the company. This is how a company can capture its current performance and build a strategy to achieve its future goals. But beyond internal factors or charting the company, make sure to explore external factors as well. This provides a fuller picture of how a company can carve a route to reach its objectives.

5. Business Goals

Business goals should define the target that a company is aiming for in the future. By doing this, a company has a way to measure its success, communicate these goals to its employees and ensure the company is going in the right direction.

6. Marketing Plan

The marketing plan outlines a company’s advertising strategy. It can be used to generate leads and reach a target audience, outreach and PR campaigns. Also included is how the company will measure the effectiveness of the initiatives.

  • Market research:  Uses competitive analysis, testing, surveys, etc., to determine the target audience and what needs the company is fulfilling or pain point it’s resolving.
  • Marketing campaigns: These include promotions, value propositions, differentiation factors, pricing, distribution channels, etc., to see the product or service.
  • Marketing KPIs: Using various metrics will help the company measure the success of its campaigns.

7. Operations Plan

The operation plan is an outline of the strategic plan’s goals and how the company plans to meet them. It’s an action plan that shows team members what they’re responsible for in achieving the goals of the strategic plan.

8. Financial Projections

When making financial projections for a company’s strategic plans they should include a forecast of the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow statement. These financial projects like the strategic plan are mid-to-long term.

Identify the team members with the skills and experience who will be responsible for executing the operational plan set forth in the company’s strategic plan.

Other Templates to Help with Your Strategic Plan

The free strategic plan document template for Word is a helpful tool to outline a company’s mid-to-long-term objectives. We have dozens of other free templates for Word and Excel that can help you manage every phase of a project, from planning to closure. Here are just a few of the free templates that we offer for download that are related to strategic planning.

Executive Summary Template

If you need help with the executive summary portion of the free strategic plan template, this free executive summary template is a great asset. It breaks down the points you’ll want to capture for an effective executive summary and is a valuable tool to complete that section of the strategic plan.

Marketing Campaign Template

The marketing plan is another section of the strategic plan that can be fully fleshed out with the free marketing campaign template. It outlines all the steps you need to introduce your product or service to market. It has fields to collect the goals of the campaign, identify the target audience and much more.

SWOT Analysis Template 

We’ve included a small SWOT analysis table in the free strategic plan template, but you might want more space to capture this important data. If so, use our free SWOT analysis template for Word, which you can then attach to the strategic plan template. This colorful template helps you see where you are and offer guidance to get you where you want to be.

ProjectManager Is a Robust Planning Tool

Free templates are a great way to gather information and develop a strategic plan, but they’re not as good at managing that plan once you implement it. You need more robust tools, not static documents or spreadsheets. ProjectManager is online project management software that connects teams and helps them plan, manage and track their progress in real time.

Track Progress with Real-Time Dashboards

You’ve put the strategic plan in the Gantt chart and can now see the roadmap in a visual timeline. But to make sure you keep to that schedule you need to have a way to monitor progress and performance. Our real-time dashboards track metrics such as time, cost and more all in real time so you can respond quickly to changes that threaten your goals. Unlike other lightweight tools, there’s no configuration or set. It’s ready when you are.

ProjectManager’s dashboard view, which shows six key metrics on a project

Work How You Want with Multiple Project Views

Gantt charts are great for managers, but they’re not the ones who are will execute the strategic plan. It’s a group effort that involves every department in the company from marketing and sales to IT and manufacturing, and they all use different tools. That’s why we offer multiple project views that share the same real-time data whether you’re using a list view, the visual workflow of a kanban or a calendar to capture important dates. Everyone is working from a single source of truth.

Calendar for tracking strategic plans

Related Content

Strategic planning is a big subject and we’ve only scratched the surface. If you want to learn more, you’re in luck. ProjectManager isn’t only a great tool to create and manage your strategic plan, it’s also the online hub for all things project management. We have free blogs each week, tutorial videos, eBooks, white pages and, of course, free templates. Here are a few links to follow and read more about strategic plans.

  • 15 Free Word and Excel Templates for Business
  • Strategic Planning in Business
  • Strategic Planning Models: An Introduction to 5 Popular Models
  • A Quick Guide to Strategic Initiatives 

ProjectManager Helps You Reach Your Strategic Goals

ProjectManager is award-winning software that helps you plan, manage and track your strategic plans. Our collaborative platform connects everyone across departments and time zones. With features that help you manage risk, tasks and resources you’re more likely to adjust to changes in the market and hit your target. See why teams in organizations as varied as NASA, Siemens and Nestle use our tool to deliver success. Get started with ProjectManager today for free.

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Deliver faster, collaborate better, innovate more effectively — without the high prices and months-long implementation and extensive training required by other products.

Strategic Plan Template

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Do you require a Strategic Plan Template to address your issues before the caliber of your brand or company? This template from PandaDoc's selections could result in a profit, which would support the period's end financial estimates for your company.

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Image 1

Created by:

​ [Sender.FirstName] [Sender.LastName] ​ [Sender.Title] ​ [Sender.Company] ​

​ [Sender.Phone] [Sender.Email] ​

Prepared for:

​ [Client.FirstName] [Client.LastName]

​ [Client.Title] [Client.Company] ​

​ [Client.Phone] [Client.Email] ​

Executive summary

Problem statement.

In recent feedback sessions, (percent) % of

your customers experience a need for (declare customer need, such as faster delivery, accessibility, or a cheaper product).

Image 2

In surveys of customers who have chosen the competitors (product) , they mentioned that (price/delivery/accessibility, etc.) and (price/delivery/accessibility, etc.) was a problem (percent) % of the time.

To best serve your existing customers, you need to develop a series of (product/service/initiative) and sell it (at/with a better price point/faster delivery/improved accessibility, etc.) .

Image 4

Proposed solution

Your new (product/service/initiative) should begin (at/with) (percent) % (cheaper/faster delivery/more accessibility, etc.), with the potential to increase it to (percent) % depending on (what could prevent your product from succeeding, like marketing, amount of employees, etc.).

Image 5

In order to offer (these prices/improved accessibility/faster delivery, etc.) , you should do the following:

Pain point 1

(How to improve pain-point #1)

Pain point 2

(How to improve pain-point #2)

Pain point 3

(How to improve pain-point #3)

Image 11

Note that our proposed solution will not affect the overall quality of your business or brand.

With our proposed solution, your brand could (breakout into new markets/reduce manufacturing costs, etc.) . These new offerings could bring in $ (profit amount) , which would help your business's financial projections at the end of Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4/year).

Your company

! The following information discusses what your company currently looks like.

Image 6

Mission statement

Core values/principles.

(What does your business want to accomplish for its customers?)

(What is your vision, is it to become the best in your industry?)

Goals and objectives

(What are your objectives? Gaining more customers, expanding the company to 100 employees, or getting more investors?)

Product or service development

! We recommend your business creates the following products/services.

Product/service description

(Product/service description)

Pricing model

(Pricing model, including one-time costs or subscription costs)

Delivery capabilities

(Includes resource requirements for delivery, design ideas, and performance projections.)

Delivery system

(How you’ll deliver the product: online, shipment, etc.)

Critical element suppliers

(Includes the supply chain, such as inventory management, packaging strategy, storage and delivery strategy, regulatory compliance, safety, financial models, and data integrity and control.)

Marketing research

! Based on data, your business should be targeting the following customers.

Your competition and market status are how we determine if you’re aligning with industry marketing outcomes.

(Create a customer avatar that includes their age, gender, marital status, children, location, occupation, job title, average income, education, goals, values, challenges, point points, and common objections.)

Competition

(Choose at least 3 competitors, preferably direct competitors, in your industry to use for your SWOT analysis.)

Market status

(How is your market performing?)

Marketing goals

! Based on data, we believe your business should commit to the following

marketing goals.

Consumer climate

(How much do you expect your consumers to spend?)

Market share

(What portion of the market share do you expect to have?)

Diversification

(What industries or areas do you want to invest in?)

Distribution channels

(What direct and indirect distribution channels do you want to invest in? Retailers, wholesalers, or agents?)

Marketing plan

! Based on research, your business should include the following marketing initiatives.

Strategy and tactics

Customer markets.

(What are your main marketing strategies and tactics?)

(What customer markets are you targeting? Primary and/or secondary?)

Market positioning

Advertising research.

(How do you want your customers to view your brand or product?)

(How will you conduct market research? What is your strategy?)

Public positioning

Test marketing.

(Will your public positioning be based on product characteristics, price, quality/luxury, product use, or on the competition?)

(What markets, besides your direct market, should you test?)

Cross-selling

(Where are your cross-selling opportunities?)

SWOT analysis

! Based on research, this chart represents your and your competition’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for growth, and potential threats. Use this chart to improve on your offerings.

Self: (What are you doing right? Why do your customers like you?) ​

Competition: (What is your competition doing right? Why do their customers like them? Can you capitalize on their strengths?)

Image 7

Self: (What are you doing wrong? What do your customers say they want you to improve? How can you improve on these problems?) ​

Competition: (What are they doing wrong? What do their customers say they want them to improve? How can you capitalize on these problems?)

Opportunities

Self: (Where are there opportunities for growth in your company based on your and your competition's weaknesses and your strengths?) ​

Competition: (Where can your business improve and capitalize on your competition’s customers? When can you implement these changes?)

Image 9

Self: (What projects are you creating at the moment? What could go wrong, and how has your competition implemented a similar project?)

Competition: (Are you aware of new projects your competition is implementing? What could go wrong? Could your business do it better?)

See risk factors and contingencies for possible financial shortfalls.

Financial plan

! Below are your total costs regarding your employees, office expenses, and utilities. Your sales are covered in the “projected revenue” charts. The final two charts, “projected quarterly expenses” and “projected yearly revenue and expenses,” cover your total costs.

Projected costs for the year

Your projected costs for (year) is as follows:

Projected quarterly revenue

Your projected revenue for (year) is as follows:

Total yearly sales:

Total yearly returns:

Net profit:

Projected quarterly expenses

Your projected quarterly expenses for (year) is as follows:

Projected yearly revenue and expenses

Your projected quarterly expenses for (year), (year), and (year) are as follows:

Assessment and review

! The below chart includes our assessment and review of the following categories.

Analytics and tracking

Financial analysis.

(What are your results for tracked metrics and KPIs?)

(How is your company doing financially?)

Customer surveys

Market share analysis.

(What do your customers say?)

(What percentage of the market share do you currently own?)

Market survey

(Where is the market headed in your industry?)

Risk factors and contingencies

! Risk factors regarding your business are indicated below. If you limit the number

of risk factors and contingencies in your business, you’ll be able to meet your financial projections.

Revenue Shortfall

(Do you expect a shortfall? What can you do to prevent this?)

Pro Forma Invoices

(Are your Pro Forma invoices accurate? By how much?)

Critical Ratios

(What is your critical ratio percentage? How can this be improved?)

Budget Variance

(Will your budget be higher or lower than projected costs?)

Financial Audits

(How accurate are your financial audits?)

! Below are the sources we used to find the data we needed to conduct your strategic plan.

Research: Clients

(Use existing reviews, own analysis, data analytics, websites, surveys, product/service usage, audience insights, one-on-one conversations, Google research, heat mapping, social listening, and more to conduct your research.)

Research: Competition

Research: environment.

*Please go back to your executive summary to see how we used our findings.

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Your rating will help others.

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Start » strategy, 9 steps to creating a procurement process for your small business.

An effective procurement strategy is the foundation for implementation success. Learn how to plan your approach, choose the right technologies, and find suitable suppliers.

 A small business owner checks a delivery. Before her is an open box. She is holding the shipping invoice in her right hand and comparing it against the goods delivered.

Disruptions, shortages, and out-of-stock situations impact your uptime and ability to meet customer expectations. Indeed, in the second quarter of 2023, supply chain issues remained a top concern for 23% of small business owners, according to the MetLife and U.S. Chamber Small Business Index . A procurement strategy increases supply chain visibility and resiliency while reducing your financial and operational risks.

In addition, a purposeful approach to procurement can save your company money and bolster relationships with suppliers. Follow this step-by-step guide to develop a procurement process suitable for your business goals and needs.

1. Assess your needs, goals, and budget

Procurement cycles differ by company; small and medium businesses (SMBs) should refrain from trying to create a one-size-fits-all plan. Instead, complete an internal review to learn what goods and services each department requires. Categorize these as direct (raw materials or services for production) or indirect (supports business activities). Then, break them into goods or services. Remember to include pricing and quantities to understand the spend for each group.

This step aims to see how much your business spends on direct and indirect goods and services. These figures will give you an idea of how procurement can benefit your company and how a strategy can help you overcome supply chain challenges .

[ Read more: 6 Ways to Protect Your Business From a Supply Chain Disruption ]

2. Establish metrics to measure your procurement performance

Procurement key performance indicators (KPIs) track your company’s efficiency and process goals. Monitoring metrics increases visibility into your supply chain and shows where you’re improving or need further action. You should set small business KPIs before beginning any new process.

Consider tracking the following metrics:

  • Rate of emergency purchases.
  • Procurement return on investment (ROI) and benefits.
  • Supplier defect rate.
  • Purchase order (PO) and invoice accuracy.
  • Compliance rate.
  • Supplier lead time.
  • Vendor availability.
  • PO cycle time.
  • Cost per invoice and PO.
  • Procurement ROI and benefits.
  • Spend under management.
  • Price competitiveness.

[ Read more: Big Brands’ Inventory Management Partners Share Top Tips to Slay Supply Chain Snarls ]

3. Consider current and new procurement technologies

Capterra stated, “Nearly 30% of SMBs plan to implement a new supply chain management tool in 2023.” Moreover, MHI predicts that “digital supply chains will be the norm” by 2033.

Although companies can choose an all-in-one procure-to-pay suite, Capterra found that many organizations opt for specialized tools. Niche programs are easier to use, integrate, and deploy.

See if your current software supports your procurement process, and while planning your strategy, look for opportunities to automate tasks using supply chain tech . Doing so can decrease errors and save time, allowing your procurement team to focus on high-value activities instead of data entry.

Procurement software solutions fall into the following categories (and several tools cover multiple areas):

  • Accounts payable and spend analysis: This software helps companies understand the procurement process and find cost-saving opportunities. Solutions include Coupa , SAP Ariba , Precoro , and PRM360 .
  • Procure to pay: These end-to-end platforms centralize many procurement activities. Consider solutions like mjPRO , Procurify , Precoro , Basware , and MHC Software .
  • Purchasing: Automate your approval workflows and view real-time spend data with SAP S/4HANA Cloud , Emburse Certify Expense , Spendwise , Veeqo , Unleashed , Planergy , Teampay , and Order.co .
  • Request for proposal (RFP): Create a central database for your procurement documents and use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to improve your workflows. Software solutions include Responsive (formerly RFPIO), Loopio , Avnio Response Cloud , RFP360 , QorusDocs , and RocketDocs .
  • Spend management: Manage your expenses automatically and visualize your costs with software like BILL Spend & Expense (Formerly Divvy), Ramp , Brex , Airbase , and Spendesk .
  • Strategic sourcing: Automate your sourcing and procurement process with software such as aPriori , Procol , and Anvyl .
  • Vendor management: Review, track, and manage suppliers with solutions from QuickBooks Online , Vanta , SAP Fieldglass , Venminder , Ncontracts , and Tradeshift Pay .

4. Find and evaluate suppliers

Identify vendors for each good, electronic component, service, raw material, or service your business requires. Obtain supply market intelligence using free resources from the U.S. Small Business Association and the U.S. Census Bureau . Also, consider paid services, such as IBIS World , Crain’s , Bloomberg , and Gartner . Consider each vendor’s cost structure, market information, past performance, and commodity profile.

This prescreening process is enough to move to the next stage for some services and goods (office supplies or standard maintenance items like grease). However, you should further evaluate complex parts and essential production components when the products substantially impact your budget and production capacity. The more risk that’s involved, the more time you should dedicate to the vetting process.

Consider criteria such as the following:

  • Location: Review the geographic stability, distance from your company, and supply chain infrastructure.
  • Cultural and language differences: Determine if barriers will cause communication issues during the process.
  • Working conditions: Focus on health and safety practices, child labor usage, and general working conditions.
  • Employee capabilities: See if there is a history of labor disputes or strikes, the turnover rate, and the workforce skill level.
  • Cost structure: Go over the total costs, including production, marketing, material, administrative, and supply chain expenses.
  • Technological capabilities: Consider the company’s approach to technology in design, equipment, processes, methods, and any current or future investments in research and development.
  • Quality control: Look at what system they use and record to ensure consistency for current and anticipated demand.

In the second quarter of 2023, supply chain issues remained a top concern for 23% of small business owners, according to the MetLife and U.S. Chamber Small Business Index.

5. Choose a sourcing strategy

After approving a purchase, your procurement team must select a supplier and either buy directly from them, send an RFP or a request for quote (RFQ), or enter into an agreement.

An RFP solicits bids from suppliers. It should outline your project and provide delivery requirements, financial terms, pricing structure, and product or service details. Alternatively, a company uses an RFQ when they only need a price quote, not information about products or services.

[ Read more: Do You Have a Supply Chain Backup Plan? How to Plan Ahead ]

6. Select suppliers and negotiate

Once you review the documents and choose a supplier, it’s time to negotiate vendor contracts . The agreement should outline the scope of work, delivery dates, budget, contract duration, legalities, terms, and conditions.

It’s important to remember that, ideally, you’re building a long-term relationship. You need to get the best deal possible. At the same time, compromise is part of negotiation.

7. Finalize documents and keep records

The onboarding process begins immediately after signing and approving the contract. Larger organizations often require individuals to complete a purchase requisition (PR). This form requests the procured goods or services and requires approval from an internal department manager or leader.

From there, the business creates a purchase order (PO). This document goes to the supplier and details the services or goods and negotiated terms and conditions.

Small businesses should keep all records on file, whether those records are paper files or digital forms. Doing so helps show your overall ROI and can support you when negotiating future vendor payment terms . Moreover, it’s essential for business tax and audit purposes.

Store the following documents:

  • Supplier invoices.
  • Delivery reports.
  • Company policies.
  • Purchase orders.
  • Packing lists.
  • RFPs and RFQs.
  • Procurement budget approvals.
  • Goods received note.

8. Inspect shipments and pay suppliers

Check out your first shipment to ensure everything is in good condition and in the correct quantity. Also, note if the supplier met the delivery schedule and satisfied the services outlined in the contract. If you have any concerns, contact the vendor for a meeting. Otherwise, you can go over the invoice for payment.

Companies often use the three-way matching method. It compares the purchase order, invoice, and itemized list for accuracy. From there (depending on your payment terms), your financial department will process the payment and send it to the supplier.

9. Review and adjust your procurement strategy

All business strategies are living documents. Nothing, including contracts, is set in stone.

Your procurement KPIs will highlight opportunities for improvement and areas where you could save money by adjusting your process or negotiating better contract terms. Likewise, you may realize inefficient processes are driving up administrative costs. In this case, automated spend management software or vendor management tools can boost productivity while reducing errors and ensuring policy compliance.

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

CO—is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here .

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IMAGES

  1. 32 Great Strategic Plan Templates to Grow your Business

    outline for strategic business plan

  2. 32 Great Strategic Plan Templates to Grow your Business

    outline for strategic business plan

  3. 32 Great Strategic Plan Templates to Grow your Business

    outline for strategic business plan

  4. Outline Examples

    outline for strategic business plan

  5. 32 Great Strategic Plan Templates to Grow your Business

    outline for strategic business plan

  6. Strategic Plan Template

    outline for strategic business plan

VIDEO

  1. Annual Business Planning Workshop with Rhonwyn

  2. Strategic Planning: Business Plan in 1 Minute

COMMENTS

  1. PDF How to write a strategic plan

    Goals, Priorities and Strategies. Outlines the goals, priorities, and strategies to meet the mission. 3 -4 overarching goals aligned with mission. Priorities, activities, objectives, strategies are in more depth, have more specificity - each goal could have a few different objectives / strategies associated with it.

  2. How To Outline Your Strategic Plan

    1. Create a vivid description of what your "final destination" is. To create an overall vision, some organizations start by holding a brainstorming session in which they "imagine a world" where: Their organization is dominating the industry. They've tripled in size. They've introduced a number of new products.

  3. Quick Guide: How to Write a Strategic Plan

    A strategic plan is a dynamic document or presentation that details your company's present situation, outlines your future plans, and shows you how the company can get there. You can take many approaches to the process and consider differing ideas about what needs to go into it, but some general concepts stand.

  4. What is Strategic Planning? A 5-Step Guide [2024] • Asana

    Strategic planning is a business process that helps you define and share the direction your company will take in the next three to five years. During the strategic planning process, stakeholders review and define the organization's mission and goals, conduct competitive assessments, and identify company goals and objectives.

  5. Write your business plan

    Content Business plans help you run your business A good business plan guides you through each stage of starting and managing your business. You'll use your business plan as a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. It's a way to think through the key elements of your business.

  6. Free Strategic Planning Templates

    A comprehensive, strategic business plan may include company information, SWOT analysis, research, goals, resources, risks and more. A template provides structure for your business planning process as well as a communication tool that's simple to update or modify.

  7. Free Strategic Plan Template and Best Practices

    Quick Read A strategic plan is a written document outlining an organization's strategy and the tactics it will employ to achieve its goals. To effectively execute a strategic plan, it is essential to clearly communicate goals, take actionable steps, remain flexible and adaptable, and regularly evaluate the plan's progress.

  8. The last business strategy template you'll ever need

    A business plan and strategic plan template will both include an executive summary, company descriptions, and even mission, vision, and value statements. Where a business plan differs is that it's an overview of how the business runs day-to-day, while a strategic plan focuses on how you'll achieve specific initiatives that have the power to ...

  9. Strategic Planning Tools: What, Why, How, Template

    Strategic plans bridge the gap from overall direction to specific projects and day-to-day actions that ultimately execute the strategy. Job No. 1 is to know the difference between strategy and strategic plans — and why it matters. Strategy defines the long-term direction of the enterprise. It articulates what the enterprise will do to compete ...

  10. How to Develop a Strategic Plan for Business Development [Free Template]

    Published: May 01, 2023 Business development is usually confused with sales, often overlooked, and only sometimes given the strategic focus it deserves. Having a business development strategy, however, is crucial to long-term success. It ensures that everyone in your company is working toward a common goal.

  11. How To Write A Strategic Plan That Gets Results + Examples

    1. Run a strategic planning workshop The first step is to run a strategic planning workshop with your team. Get your team in the room, get their data, and gather their insights. By running this workshop, you'll foster collaboration and bring fresh perspectives to the table. And that's not all.

  12. How to write a strategic plan

    Strategic planning is about finding a short list of the highest-impact projects. It's a filter.". The section is generally 10 to 15 pages long and includes these elements: Corporate directions — a broad overview of what you need to do to achieve your goals. Strategic priorities — a list of your main projects.

  13. What To Include in a Strategic Business Plan (With Template)

    An annual strategic business plan should include 8 key sections. Follow these steps to write an effective annual strategic business plan: State information that defines the company. Perform a SWOT analysis. Identify business goals. Identify key performance indicators. Perform and summarize market research. Outline the business marketing plan.

  14. How to Write a Business Plan Outline [Examples + Templates]

    Beyond saving you from blank page syndrome, an outline ensures you don't leave any essential information out of your plan — you can see all the most important points at a glance and quickly identify any content gaps. It also serves as a writing guide. Once you know all the sections you want in your plan, you just need to expand on them.

  15. How To Write A Business Plan (2024 Guide)

    Describe Your Services or Products. The business plan should have a section that explains the services or products that you're offering. This is the part where you can also describe how they fit ...

  16. Strategic Plan Template: What To Include In Yours

    A strategic plan is a roadmap to grow your business. To help you succeed, use this proven strategic plan template, and the information below details the 13 key sections you must include in your ...

  17. A Simple Business Plan Outline to Build a Useful Plan

    What is a business plan outline? A business plan outline is similar to a template for a business plan. It lists the common sections that all business plans should include.

  18. 15+ Business Plan Templates for Strategic Planning

    By Joan Ang, Feb 17, 2022 If you've just had a new business idea that's worth funding, or come up with a marketing strategy that can double your company's revenue — it's time to put your great ideas down on paper using a professional business plan template.

  19. Strategic Planning: A Guide to Develop a Strategic Plan

    Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its direction and long-term goals, creating specific plans to achieve them, implementing those plans, and evaluating the results. On one hand, that definition makes strategy planning sound like a Business 101 concept—define your goals and a plan to achieve them.

  20. 6 Steps to Make Your Strategic Plan Really Strategic

    Alicia Llop/Getty Images. Summary. Many strategic plans aren't strategic, or even plans. To fix that, try a six step process: first, identify key stakeholders. Second, identify a specific, very ...

  21. Strategic Plan Template for Word (Free Download)

    Download Word File When a company wants to map out its long-term business objectives and how it'll get there, they use a strategic plan. Our free strategic plan template captures all topics that any company needs to define, so everything is aligned with the overall mission and vision of the company.

  22. Strategic Business Plan Template for 2024 Sample

    It's important to project as closely as possible to avoid loss of trust. A "Critical Ratio" is calculated by dividing the time remaining until a job's deadline by the total shop time remaining for said job. A critical ratio above 1.0 is ideal for any business, as that means you're doing well on cost and schedule.

  23. The Ultimate List of Strategic Planning Templates (2024)

    Edit this elegant, creative business plan template to captivate your investors and bring your vision to reality. 15. One Page Logo Design Brief. ... Stay on top of your financial goals with this outstanding product sales budget plan template. This strategic business planning tool covers all essential aspects of sales budgeting, such as revenue ...

  24. Car Dealership Business Plan PDF Example

    Strategy: Outlines how the Car Dealership intends to achieve growth and attract clients: SWOT: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis tailored to the car dealership business. ... Download an expert-built 30+ slides Powerpoint business plan template. See the template.

  25. 9 Essential Steps in the Procurement Process

    This step aims to see how much your business spends on direct and indirect goods and services. These figures will give you an idea of how procurement can benefit your company and how a strategy can help you overcome supply chain challenges. [Read more: 6 Ways to Protect Your Business From a Supply Chain Disruption] 2.

  26. 2024 Digital Marketing Strategy Guide

    A digital marketing strategy is a plan that gets a product or brand in front of potential customers. The goal could be to grow the brand or hit specific revenue targets.

  27. Five moves Walmart is making to overhaul its business for the ...

    Walmart CEO Doug McMillon is expected to further outline the company's new strategies and initiatives. ... Under the plan Walmart announced, people who own shares by close of business on ...

  28. The .gov means it' official

    Made possible by a bond issuance, proceeds will be allocated toward three primary pillars: Housing; Business, Innovation and Job Growth; and Cultural and Community Assets. Click here to download the strategic plan for Mayor Johnson's $1.25 billion Housing and Economic Development Bond (2024-2028).