Your Road Map to Success

I have finally finished the strategic plan for my business, and now it is time for me to pass on what I have learned. This is an explanation of the last two steps in the strategic planning process, which are:    5. Set your goals and strategies; 6. Set up a control system.


Your mission statement provides the general direction of your business. Your goals are your business' destination. Your goals need to be written in outcomes rather than actions. Here is an example; I plan to increase online sales by 25%; As opposed to, I plan to advertise online. The latter is not a goal it is a plan to achieve a goal, and let’s face it plans change. Your goals on the other hand should not change.

You must set goals in each functional area of your business. Your goals should be challenging, yet attainable, and written with an end in mind. A good plan has many levels of goals. It is the steps (written in goals) that you will take to achieve your businesses mission (mission statement). This is an example of one tier of my business plan:

Day One: Put car title into the name of my business (sorry, I’m still not ready to share).


End of Year Two: Purchase a gently used delivery van ( less than 5 years old).


End of Year Five: Own (lease) fleet of 2 new and 1 used vans.
 End of Year Seven: Own (lease) 5 new delivery vans.


End of Year Ten: Own (lease) and operate (use in business) 10 economically friendly delivery vans.

Once you have set goals in all functional areas of your business, you have completed the strategic planning process. The end result is a control system for business planning. Steps five and six are the product of steps 1-4 and then you use this information to pinpoint problems. If you have planned well, you will be able to pinpoint problems if (when) they occur. You will know exactly what caused the problem, when it occurred, and what you need to do to fix it. It is genius, and you have your research at hand. A well thought out Strategic Plan will help you keep your business on track with your goals.


Works Cited


Hatten, Timothy. Small Business Management: Entrepreneurship and Beyond. New York: Boston, 2009. 84-86.