Frequently Asked Questions

We know strategy is confusing,



but necessary for success.

What is the difference between a business plan and a strategic plan?

A Business Plan:
-is for new businesses or projects
-is for entrepreneurs who are serious about starting up
-helps to define the purpose of your business
-is necessary to plan HR and operational needs
-is critical if you are seeking funding
-is used to assess a business opportunity
-provides structure to ideas

A Strategic Plan on the other hand:
-is for established businesses
-is for business owners who are serious about growth
-helps to build your competitive advantage
-is necessary to communicate your strategy to staff
-is critical to prioritizing financial needs
-is used to provide focus
-provides the direction to move from plan to action

Who uses strategic plans?
Companies in every industry, every part of the country, and most of the Fortune 500. We specialize in strategic plans for entrepreneurial spirited businesses and non-profit organizations. See our testimonials.

What difference does it make if I get a strategic plan?
You can't make the plan happen, if you don't have a plan. It needs to be written down, so you can hold yourself and your team accountable to achieving your plan.

How do I show my staff/employees what my vision is?
At its most detailed level, the strategic plan is a communications tool and handbook for management and staff so they know what they are doing, how they are doing it, how it is being measured, when it needs to be done by, and who does what. The key is having high-quality outputs that show visually and descriptively where you are headed. Our Strategic Plan includes 6 different detailed outputs.

Does every strategic plan include the same elements?
A strategic plan should include a mission statement, a description of the company's long-term goals and objectives, and strategies or means the company plans to use to achieve these general goals and objectives. The strategic plan may also identify external factors that could affect achievement of long-term goals.

Just exactly what is strategic planning?
"Strategy" is the leadership's sense of vision as to the overall course and direction of any endeavor or enterprise, be it war, government, a profit-seeking business, a non-profit organization, sports, one's personal or one's family life.

The term "strategic planning" refers to a coordinated and systematic process for developing a plan for the overall course and direction of the endeavor or enterprise for the purpose of optimizing future potential. For a profit-making business this will involve questions as to "what shall we sell", "to whom shall we sell it" and "how shall we beat or avoid competition?" It may well involve other questions, such as; ownership and capital structure.

The central purpose of this process is to assure that the course and direction is well thought out, sound and appropriate and to assure that the limited resources of the enterprise (time and capital) are sharply focused in support of that course and direction. The process encompasses both strategy formulation and implementation.

Does every company need a strategic plan?
Every endeavor or enterprise already has a strategy. These range from some vague sense of the desires of the owner to massive, overly sophisticated master plans. So the question is not whether every company needs a strategy, but rather whether the company's strategy needs to be Well thought out, sound, appropriate and do-able. The answer is self-evident.

We are highly successful already: why should we plan?
Success is strong evidence that a company has had a sound and appropriate strategy. Note the past tense. There is absolutely no guarantee that yesterday's sound and appropriate strategy will continue to be successful in the future. Indeed, there is great danger in assuming so without adequate study.

Can a smaller company afford the time for strategic planning?
Experience shows that the top management team will devote approximately 2-4% of its time to practical strategic planning. In reality, structured strategic planning is not something more to do, but rather a better way of doing something already being done. Indeed, in the long run it is a net time saver. It should be acknowledged that there is a danger of strategic planning becoming a time trap. Avoiding that trap is one of the fundamental purposes of practical strategic planning.

Why plan in a world that is highly uncertain?
There is sometimes the feeling that forward planning is futile because it will be overwhelmed by unanticipated events and developments. Uncertainty is, indeed, a major problem in forward planning. However, to conclude that the best way to deal with the problem is to not plan is an ostrich-like response. To the contrary, the greater the uncertainty, the greater the need for good strategic planning.

How can we be confident that our planning will be successful?
Even in the presence of a structured strategic planning process, it is quite possible to formulate unsound, inappropriate strategy and/or to fail at implementation. There are many pitfalls. What is required is a sound approach, management commitment and good planning leadership. There is no better way to acquire these prerequisites than to use MyStrategicPlan.