Strategic Business Planning (part 2)
(cont)
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 next 7 key sections you must include in your strategic plan.
Section 7: Target Customers
In this section of your strategic plan, you will identify the wants and needs of each of your target customer groups. This is important in focusing your marketing efforts and getting a higher return on investment on your advertising expenditures. This is because the more you can “speak” directly to your target customer wants and needs in your marketing, the better you will attract them.
Section 8: Industry Analysis
Your industry analysis doesn’t have to be a comprehensive report on what’s going on in your market. However, you should conduct an analysis to ensure the market size is growing (if not, you might want to diversify), and to help identify new opportunities for growth.
Section 9: Competitive Analysis & Advantage
Similarly to your industry analysis, your competitive analysis doesn’t have to be a thorough report listing every detail about every competitor. Rather, in addition to defining who your key competitors are, you should list their strengths & weaknesses.
Most importantly, use this analysis to determine your current competitive advantages and ways to develop additional advantages.
Section 10: Marketing Plan
In addition to your strategic plan, I recommend you develop a comprehensive marketing plan describing how you will attract prospects, convert them to paying customers and maximize your lifetime customer value.
Include a summary of your marketing plan in your strategic plan.
Section 11: Team
The team section of your strategic plan ensures you have the human resources to execute on the opportunities you’ve identified and to achieve the goals you established in section 5 of your plan.
Here you should list your current team members and identify the types of people you need to hire in the next year to achieve your goals.
Section 12: Operations Plan
Your operations plan helps you transform your goals and opportunities into reality. In this section of your plan, you will identify each of the individual projects that comprise your larger goals and how these projects will be completed. Finally, you’ll map out each of your initiatives, ideally in a Gantt chart, so you know when each project will start and who will lead them.
Section 13: Financial Projections
The final section of your strategic plan is your financial projections. Your financial projections help in multiple ways. First, you can use a financial model to assess the potential results for each opportunity you consider pursuing.
Also, once you determine the opportunities you will pursue, your financial projections will map out the goals. For example, you’ll know exactly how many new customers you must attract in the next month, and at what price point, to achieve next month’s goal.
You should develop your complete strategic plan each year, and then update it monthly as actual results come in and you gain more clarity and intelligence. While you will rarely achieve the precise goals established in your strategic plan, scores of research show that you’ll come much closer to them versus if you didn’t plan at all. So, develop your strategic plan today, and achieve the goals you desire.
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 next 7 key sections you must include in your strategic plan.
Section 7: Target Customers
In this section of your strategic plan, you will identify the wants and needs of each of your target customer groups. This is important in focusing your marketing efforts and getting a higher return on investment on your advertising expenditures. This is because the more you can “speak” directly to your target customer wants and needs in your marketing, the better you will attract them.
Section 8: Industry Analysis
Your industry analysis doesn’t have to be a comprehensive report on what’s going on in your market. However, you should conduct an analysis to ensure the market size is growing (if not, you might want to diversify), and to help identify new opportunities for growth.
Section 9: Competitive Analysis & Advantage
Similarly to your industry analysis, your competitive analysis doesn’t have to be a thorough report listing every detail about every competitor. Rather, in addition to defining who your key competitors are, you should list their strengths & weaknesses.
Most importantly, use this analysis to determine your current competitive advantages and ways to develop additional advantages.
Section 10: Marketing Plan
In addition to your strategic plan, I recommend you develop a comprehensive marketing plan describing how you will attract prospects, convert them to paying customers and maximize your lifetime customer value.
Include a summary of your marketing plan in your strategic plan.
Section 11: Team
The team section of your strategic plan ensures you have the human resources to execute on the opportunities you’ve identified and to achieve the goals you established in section 5 of your plan.
Here you should list your current team members and identify the types of people you need to hire in the next year to achieve your goals.
Section 12: Operations Plan
Your operations plan helps you transform your goals and opportunities into reality. In this section of your plan, you will identify each of the individual projects that comprise your larger goals and how these projects will be completed. Finally, you’ll map out each of your initiatives, ideally in a Gantt chart, so you know when each project will start and who will lead them.
Section 13: Financial Projections
The final section of your strategic plan is your financial projections. Your financial projections help in multiple ways. First, you can use a financial model to assess the potential results for each opportunity you consider pursuing.
Also, once you determine the opportunities you will pursue, your financial projections will map out the goals. For example, you’ll know exactly how many new customers you must attract in the next month, and at what price point, to achieve next month’s goal.
You should develop your complete strategic plan each year, and then update it monthly as actual results come in and you gain more clarity and intelligence. While you will rarely achieve the precise goals established in your strategic plan, scores of research show that you’ll come much closer to them versus if you didn’t plan at all. So, develop your strategic plan today, and achieve the goals you desire.
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Source:Dave Lavinsky, Forbes.com
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