Strategic planning is an organization’s process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.
Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including but not limited to:-
- SWOT Analysis ( Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats )
- PEST Analysis ( Political, Economic, Social, and Technological)
- STEER Analysis ( Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors)
- EPISTEL Analysis ( Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal)
Strategic planning is the formal consideration of an organization’s future course.
All strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions:
1.       “What do we do?”
2.       “For whom do we do it?”
3.       “How do we excel?”
In many organizations, this is viewed as a process for determining where an organization is going over the next year or – more typically – 3 to 5 years (long term), although some extend their vision to 20 years.
In order to determine where it is going, the organization needs to know exactly where it stands, then determine where it wants to go and how it will get there. The resulting document is called the “strategic plan.”
It is also true that strategic planning may be a tool for effectively plotting the direction of a company; however, strategic planning itself cannot foretell exactly how the market will evolve and what issues will surface in the coming days in order to plan your organisational strategy. Therefore, strategic innovation and tinkering with the ‘strategic plan’ have to be a cornerstone strategy for an organisation to survive the turbulent business climate.
The pressures of daily business can often mean that strategic planning takes a back seat – but to have a successful business you must plan ahead. Investrend Accountants can help you establish your strategic plan that looks at where you want your business to be in the next 3-5 years and exactly how you and your team can achieve these aims and objectives.
Your strategic plan will:
- Define the characteristics of your company in 3 to 5 years
- Identify your competitors
- Define your objectives and financial goals
- Put in place an effective implementation plan to achieve your goals