Running a profitable business is challenging and requires strategic planning. Successful business owners, millionaires, and other consultants rely on strategic planning to succeed. What is strategic planning? In order to succeed, it is very important to plan. Good businessmen set achievable goals and work to develop a plan to achieve those goals. This plan outlines how the goals will be achieved. This plan is called a strategic framework. A good plan has three elements in its – mission, vision, time frame, and objectives.

Vision statement

This statement provides a clear future vision for a company. Like, what does the company wants to establish in the future. For instance, a software company might set a vision statement as “Every manufacturing plant in the country will have their software.” Of course, the vision statement overlooks the feasibility part. This is done for motivational. So that employees are hooked to it and keep driving motivation from it.

Mission statement

This statement provides the mission for the company. Essentially, it outlines the problem areas which the company aims to solve and how to solve it. A typical mission statement communicates several objectives of the company including product manufacturing, the markets it will serve, and the values it will adhere to. In relation to the last example, the mission statement would clarify that the company aims to develop software for manufacturing plants in the country and reach out to them via partnerships.

Strategic time frame

Strategic time frame outlines a timeline within which long term needs to be accomplished. This time frame brings every employee in the organization on the same page. As companies operate differently across verticals a strategic framework makes generalizations difficult. A typical strategic time frame is around five years.

Strategic objectives

A company can have numerous objectives in a fixed time frame. These are generally growth-oriented objectives that allow companies to grow. For instance, a company can set a goal to achieve a fixed revenue in the next five years. Commonly these objectives are numbers. In relation to the last example, the software company can set its objective to build a relationship with 10 manufacturing plants in the next five years. The staff and other resources required to achieve this goal is also part of the objective.

Strategic frameworks are important to build a profitable business. If you’re a businessman, entrepreneur, or business consultant, you will realize the importance of planning. If you don’t build a plan, now would be a good time to use a strategic framework and see how it works for you.  Keep the above four points in mind when you chalk out a plan. Building a plan will be easier if you know what the company really wants to achieve. Some undergrad and master’s university programs include planning. Employed professionals, however, can pursue business strategy certifications which help in learning to build effective strategic framework.

For self-learners, there are templates which can be found on the internet. Free resources in the form of eBooks are available that can help to learn. Try one and see if works for you.