Strategic planning in business is one of the core corporate activities that should be conducted on a regular basis. Good strategic planning helps a business set its priorities right, realign its resources, and strengthen its operations to ensure that it is competent enough for long term success. Strategy planning should focus on, among others, 5 key areas.

Industry assessment

Conducting an assessment of a business’s industry or area of investment gives the business owners an opportunity to evaluate its competitors, the market pricing trends, trends in products and services, and customers’ purchasing power. All micro and macro-economic trends that define how the market flows should also be defined.

Comprehensive SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis gives the business an opportunity to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses while pointing out any unexploited opportunities as well as threats that confront the business. A comprehensive business SWOT analysis should define a business’s position in the market while defining certain areas of possible strategic improvements that should be focused on along the way.

Definition of mission and vision

After the external business analysis, an internal definition of the business’s vision and mission should reaffirm to the owners why the business exists in the first place. The business’s vision is a definition of the strategic direction that the business is supposed to take in the short and long-term while the mission remains relatively constant as it defines the business’s core existence.

Definition of corporate goals

Every business should define what it needs to achieve and the specific outcomes and targets. When defining the corporate goals, it is important to focus on all areas of the business, ranging from sales and marketing to financial resources, employee targets, financial targets, and operational targets. These goals help a business to stay competitive, organized, and dedicated.

Harmonization of departmental objectives

A comprehensive business strategic plan should also focus on the broad corporate objectives as well as the individual departmental objectives. Comprehensive planning ensures that the business achieves an all-round development where no particular department falls behind. Each department should have its own sub-objectives, which all work together towards fulfilling the larger corporate objectives.