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No business plan is complete without a solid business plan strategy in place to make it work.  Similar to gas for your car, a solid strategy gives your business plan the fuel it needs to succeed. 

For your business plan to be successful, you will need to plan for these business areas: 

Products and Services.  Identify those products and services that perform the best for your company, and make sure you have a business plan strategy that is geared toward increasing sales in those areas.  Any new products or services you plan to develop should be included, along with timetables for completion and resources you’ll need to get them developed. 

Marketing.  A marketing strategy is a key area to include in your business plan strategy.  It should include an analysis of what your most profitable sources of marketing are, and how you plan to use advertising and marketing to expand your business in the coming year.  You should also identify in this section any new branding materials that will be needed to meet your business plan strategy objectives for marketing. 

Operational and Employee Development. You must include in your strategy the resources you are going to need to achieve your business plan strategy, which should include the human resources.  Don’t leave any consultants or contractors out of these projections that will be necessary to achieve your goals. 

Financial.  Include your financial plan for achieving your business plan strategy.  Many believe wrongly that if you aren’t going to use your business plan to obtain outside financing from an angel investor or bank, that the financial portion is not necessary.  But, this is not the case.  If you plan to finance your business plan strategy through business growth, it is even more critical to carefully analyze your cash flow projections to ensure they are accurate and support your business plans. 

And last, make sure you address in your business plan strategy your contingency plans should circumstances change from those you expect. 

Be sure to visit SmallBusinessAccountingBackroom.com to get many more resources to help you take your business plan strategy to the next level.

Tags: business marketing plan, business plan strategy, business strategic plan, small business