Strategic Planning

You know what you want to achieve for your business. The big picture, at least. But putting your objectives in an organized plan will help make the steps you need to take a whole lot clearer.

Strategic planning is an essential skill set for any entrepreneur. To get started, all it takes is a desire to succeed and a basic understanding of business strategy concepts.

What's the difference between a strategic plan and a business plan? The strategic plan sets the direction of the business plan, but the business plan offers additional details on the marketing plan, operational (management) plan and financial plan.

You've narrowed down the superset of business strategies to a few options that you think will work for your company. Now here's how to go about choosing the business strategy that's best for your business.

You're in the middle of your strategic planning exercise and have decided that it's time to grow the company. Here are a few things to consider when developing growth-oriented strategic plans.