Developing a strategic business plan

A business plan is a list of the things to do or a formal statement with a set of business goals, the reasons they are believed to be attainable and the plan to implement and to put in action those goals and objectives. A business plan must always have the goals and objectives of the business as they are what determine the validity of the business. For anyone who plans to carry out a business and has not come up with the objectives and strategies to maintain it, then that business is deemed to failure.

Whenever a business plan is needed, one should think of the components of the business plan and how unique they are from the other businesses. This can be done by coming up with strategies that will make the business plan unique (Reading 2004). The success of the business is determined by how well one comes up with the strategies and the ways to implement them.

Goals and objectives

In order to develop a good business plan, one should begin by setting the goals and objectives of the business to be started. These are the outcomes that the business owner expects from that business and its effect on those that are concerned. These goals must be strong and effective as per the settings of the business.

SWOT Analysis

The second plan should be the carrying out of SWOT analysis where the entrepreneur identifies the strengths, the weaknesses, opportunities and threats that are vulnerable to the business. These are the issues one should be keen on as they will positively or negatively affect the business depending on how they are handled.

Develop Strategies

This is the stage where the entrepreneur develops strategies to help in the improvement of the business (NSGIC 2006). There are common strategies that many entrepreneurs go for and the business ends up remaining at the same level or depreciating. A wise entrepreneur will gather information from other successful entrepreneurs and use that data to come up with unique strategies. By having unique strategies a business will be at a higher competitive advantage as compared to the competitors. Most of the effective strategies are usually customer oriented as the customers to the business are the key concept in a business environment (Reading 2004).

Implementation

In this stage the entrepreneur has the obligation to put the strategies at work and ensure they are effective. When implementing the strategies, the entrepreneur should consider the internal and external factors affecting the business. These include factors like technology, customer trends, industry and competition.

Measurement and Evaluation

This is where the entrepreneur carries out an evaluation of whether the strategies that have been set are effective or not. One should check the trend of the business and determine whether the strategies that have been set are effectual (Nykiel 2003). If they are not, the entrepreneur should implement others in order to avoid business failure.

Entrepreneurs should be very enthusiastic while developing a business plan because it may lead to the success or failure of the business. It is essential to focus and execute the strategies that will assist in the growth of the business. Businesses should focus on the satisfaction of the customers’ needs rather than being product oriented. It has been evident that those who are product oriented are not as successful as those who are customer oriented. Ensure efficiency in the goals and objectives set forth in the running of the business for a positive outcome.

Reference:

Nykiel, R. A., (2003), Marketing your business: a guide to developing a strategic marketing plan, Rout ledge.

NSGIC, (2006), Strategic Plan Template, Federal Geographic Data Committee. Retrieved September 10, 2010 from,

HYPERLINK “http://www.nsgic.org/hottopics/strategic_plan_template.pdf” http://www.nsgic.org/hottopics/strategic_plan_template.pdf.

Reading, C., (2004), Strategic business planning: a dynamic system for improving performance & competitive advantage, Kogan Page Publishers.