Strategic Planning for the Small Business

• Understand the clear element of business planning;
• Understand the criteria for assessing success in business;
• Build a model of their business and its possible directions;
• Understand the benefits and results of better planning.

Basic Course Outline

1. Introduction
a. What is strategic business planning
b. Purpose of strategic planning
c. Key elements of strategic planning
d. What you will have gained by the end of the course

2. Strategic planning and the business owner
a. Future role of the owner
b. Location of the business
c. Ownership structure
d. Roles of responsibility

3. Getting started with strategic planning
a. Who needs to be involved
b. What is the process involved
c. How to structure the process
d. What elements need to be included
e. Getting the planning document right

4. What a written strategic plan should include
a. Internal and external drivers
b. Vision and mission statements
c. Top-­‐level goals and objectives
d. Implementation and resourcing
e. Communication strategy
f. End to end process (Business Excellence model / QMS model)

5. Situational analysis and introduction to key analytical tools (using case study)
a. SWOT analysis
b. PESTLE/EPESTLE
c. Five forces business model
d. Boston (BCG) matrix
e. Porter model
f. Product life cycle management

6. Core differentiation strategies and building your own Plan
a. Differentiation from competitors
b. Ansoff matrix to identify growth opportunities
c. Review of core differentiation strategies
d. Competitive advantage
e. Create market gaps
f. Get students started on generating their own plan -­‐ assignment

7. Implementing the strategic plan
a. Assigning goals and responsibilities with budget and deadlines
b. Monitoring implementation using KPIs
c. Setting team/departmental objectives and direction
d. Creating and controlling a budget
e. Managing costs, cash flow, income and profit

8. Managing the change (principles of change management)
a. Risk identification and management
b. Managing resources
c. Information security
d. Employee development
e. Managing Quality
f. Environmental factors
g. Risk management

9. Course overview and build your own strategic business plan
a. Review of the course to date
b. Assist students to build their own plans -­‐ assignment

10. Presentation of your own strategic business plan
a. Students to present their plans to class
b. What have you learnt/feedback session