10 Key Elements of a Strategic Plan

Your Strategic Plan is a critical document in

determining the success of your business.

It is a guide to help achieve your business goals and

objectives. It also serves as a tool for problem solving,

market planning and product development.

The strategic planning process explores essential questions about the purpose of

being in business.

To help you succeed, we have put together the key components of a Strategic Plan.

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Executive SummaryYour Executive Summary should sum up your entire strategic plan and includes:1. An overview of what your company does and why

it will be successful2. A brief synopsis of all the other sections of the

plan3. MUST answer why you business is unique

Elevator PitchAn elevator pitch is a brief

description of your business. A quality elevator pitch gives a

concise and consistent explanation of your business. It

provides a precise understanding of what your business is and its

key objectives.

Mission StatementA mission statement explains what your business is trying to achieve. The critical thing is to figure out the one thing you are trying to do better than anyone else.

Key decisions should be made with regards to how well they help the company

progress in achieving its mission.

SWOTSuccessful entrepreneurs judge new ideas by determining their feasibility

and market potential. They conduct either formal or informal SWOT analyses, looking at the idea in

the context of the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and in the context of

market opportunities and threats.

Setting and achieving SMART goals is the hallmark of successful companies:

• Specific: your goals need to be very specific vs. being vague

• Measurable: You should be able to measure whether you are meeting the goals or not to measure whether you achieved your goal or not).

• Achievable and Realistic: making sure the objectives are achievable and realistic within the allotted time period

• Time-Bound: making sure you set a date by which the objectives will be achieved.

Goals

Key Performance Indicators

KPIs are the metrics that judge your business’ performance based on the success you

would like to succeed.They include a series of numbers that judge the financial health and the

performance of your business AND to keep you focused

towards achieving your goals.  

Target CustomersSuccessful businesses solve the problems of their customers. You need to identify:• Target Customers• Customer Needs• Your solution• Competitive Advantage

Industry AnalysisYour industry (or market) analysis:• Confirms that there is a

market need for your products and/or services

• Confirms that there is a substantial market size (so you can successfully grow)

• Confirms that industry trends support your company’s strategy

• Helps you identify new opportunities for success

Competitive Analysis

Conducting your competitive analysis:• Defines your competition• Describes your competition and their strengths

& weaknesses• Determines your current competitive

advantages• Identifies new opportunities for competitive

advantage

Marketing PlanYour Marketing Plan demonstrates how your company will penetrate the market and generate revenues, through a detailed discussion of your:• Products and/or Services• Promotions and Branding• Place/Distribution Methods• Customer Value Maximization• Marketing Partnerships & Joint

Ventures

Management TeamThe Team section of your strategic plan

ensures that you have the human resources to execute on the opportunities you’ve

identified.Include your biography and biographies of other team members, ideally showing why your team is uniquely qualified to succeed.

Your Operations Plan will help you transform your goals and opportunities into reality. It will include the following:

• Identifying the projects to be completed• Breaking up the project into smaller

pieces• Identifying key details of how the projects

will be completed • Plotting the projects on a Gantt chart

Operations Plan

Discuss key results from your P&L model, answering the following questions:• Which products/services added the

most to total revenue? Gross margins?

• What are the key marketing expenses?

• How will your HR costs rise over time?

• How will your G&A expenses rise, and what line items most impact G&A costs?

• What will your gross profit percentages be and how will they change over the next five years?

Financial Plan

BusinessPlanTemplate.com helps entrepreneurs, business owners and

executives create plans to grow their organizations.

Learn more about our strategic plan template at www.businessplantemplate.com