How to Create a Straightforward Strategic Plan for Your Startup

Introduction

Creating a startup can seem like a pipe dream because it seems like a process that would take too long or cost too much to bring into reality. However, at their core, startups operate very much like any other business. They have to have some key components to get off the ground and run successfully. Even Fortune 500 companies had to start somewhere! A lot of these initial steps that are required to create a straightforward strategic plan for your startup are going to involve brainstorming and realistic thinking combined with planning and goal setting.

We talked to some individuals with experience creating strategic plans for startups to gain some insight into the best methods and practices regardless of the industry you're looking to enter. Take a look at their advice for creating a straightforward strategic plan for your startup!

Create Goals

Creating goals and brainstorming about what your dream business would look like is a great first step when trying to create a strategic plan for your startup. Think about the big details but don't forget the small things too. Are you looking to grow and expand the company over many years or do you want to eventually sell the startup? Who do you want to attract to your products or services? The goals you set are going to set the tone for what you incorporate into your strategic plan.

"Creating goals is one of the best parts of the strategic planning process with a startup," says Carrie Shaltz Haslup, Founder and CEO of Tabeeze. "Start by putting your dreams down on paper and identify which of these dreams are realistic goals that can be set and measured for success. Creating goals through a strategic plan can help you navigate the next steps in creating a startup and launching it successfully."

"Goals for a startup should incorporate both short term and long term ideals," says Jae Pak, Founder of Jae Pak MD Medical. "If you're only focused on one or the other, you're going to face some challenges later on in the strategic planning phase. Ideally, you want to try and create short term goals that will lead you to your long term goals. Putting them down on a theoretical timeline during this drafting phase can help you visualize when and how these goals could be set."

Identify Paths to Goals

Identifying the paths to your goals is the next step in creating a straightforward strategic plan for your startup. As you create and list off your goals, you'll likely see some themes arising. What are the roadblocks or potential needs you'll face before reaching certain goals? Sometimes, it means expanding your staff or finding a larger space while other strategic goals are going to require you to advance skills you may not currently hold.

"If your goal is to create a successful startup by accomplishing some bigger goals, you're probably going to have a few things you'll need to explore along the way," says Dr. Michael Green, Chief Medical Officer of Winona. "Creating a startup means wearing a bunch of different hats throughout the process so there are always areas for growth. To reach some of your goals, you may have to learn to grow through classes, mentorships, or experience."

"People who create startups often have an abundance of ideas and dreams, but realistically, you won't be able to implement everything at once," says Drew Sherman, VP of Marketing at Carvaygo. "If you find yourself in this situation, it might help to look at your goals and see if any of your smaller goals can be set up as waypoints for your path to a bigger goal. If not, identify smaller goals you can set to create paths to the goals you want to reach."

Prioritize Values

Values are an important part of the process for creating a startup and the goals within the strategic plan. The values you determine your company should uphold are the things that will drive every decision, goal, meeting, interview, and more. The values you outline within your company's vision should be upheld through the rest of the startup structure.

"Creating a list of values and a vision statement early on in the strategic plan process can really help you stay in the right mindset," says Chris Gadek, Head of Growth at AdQuick. "Knowing your values is important for your strategic plan as well as your marketing, consumer targeting, product development, and communication methods down the road too. Consistency is key here."

"The values of your company should drive every decision you make from the first ideas you have about your startup through its operations," says Karim Hachem, VP of eCommerce at Maxine of Hollywood. "Deciding on the values before big decisions start being made can help you make sure you're running your startup with a strategic plan formulated around consistency and key values that are important to you."

Determine Evaluation Methods

If you're going to create a strategic plan for your startup, you'll need to have a way of determining if you're succeeding or not. Having evaluation plans outlined will help you create checks and balances as well as numerical goals and data-driven results. As you determine what your evaluation methods might look like, it can also help to explore programs and apps that can help you track the data you need.

"Learn what data you're going to track, how you're going to track it, and what your goals are for that data early on in the startup process," says Ryan Rottman, Co-Founder and CEO of OSDB Sports. "You can have a million ideas about what you might want to do with your startup, but without a method for tracking results—good or bad—you're going to have a really difficult time moving forward. The data will tell you what worked and what didn't from day to day, month to month, and year to year."

"Tracking your data and variables is really important when creating a strategic plan for your startup," says Omid Semino, CEO and Founder of Diamond Mansion. "The entire purpose of creating a strategic plan is to help yourself make sound decisions in the future. Without the data collection and evaluation methods in place, it will be nearly impossible to achieve that goal."

Create a 2-5 Year Plan

With startups, it can be hard to think of long term goals. Something to keep in mind about plans is that they can change. Just because you make a plan doesn't mean any other route will end in failure. Your 2-5 year plan should help you create goals, set deadlines, and serve as a metric for startup development rather than success.

"So much changes for startups within the first few years, so it can be challenging to create a plan more than a couple years out," says Rachel Roff, Founder and CEO of Urban Skin Rx. "That's okay! You can either stick to a two-year plan, or you could become broader as you move further out from current day. You don't have to create sales projections and marketing plans for Christmas sales five years from now—but having a vision for where you might like to be in an ideal world can help you aim in the right direction as you create your strategic plan."

"Long-term goals can help you create realistic strategic plans," says Max Schwartzapfel, CMO of Fighting For You. "If you limit yourself to only thinking about this month or this year, you limit the number of things you can put into action. If you're not daring to think long-term, there will be limitations on things you do with your startup. Some ideas take a long time to produce results, so if you're only thinking of things that will produce results quickly, the longevity of your startup could be affected."

Conclusion

In conclusion, creating a straightforward strategic plan for your startup is a complex, but not impossible, process. Knowing some of the things you do now, you should be able to move forward with a bit more of an idea about what types of things to keep in mind as you create your strategic plan.

Keep in mind that no two startups are alike. Even if you've successfully launched a startup in the past, you won't necessarily be able to apply the exact same principles to a new startup. Times change so your approach will need to adapt to those new industry standards and expectations.

Having a list of values prior to listing your goals and creating a plan to achieve them can help you create consistency and transparency within your startup. It also helps to determine how you're measuring success and data early on in the strategic planning process. Finally, creating a long term plan can help you think about the big picture and avoid discounting any goals or ideas that may not come to fruition until two-five years down the road.