Written by Erica Olsen, founder and President of a business development firm that helps entrepreneurial-minded businesses plan for a successful future, this handy guide covers all the basics, including:

• How a strategic plan is different than a business plan
• Establishing a step-based planning process
• Planning for and encouraging growth
• Taking a long-view of your organization
• Evaluating past performance
• Defining and refining your mission, values, and vision
• Sizing up your current situation
• Examining your industry landscape
• Setting your strategic priorities
• Planning for unknown contingencies

If you’re in business, you have to plan for everything — especially if you intend your business to grow. Whether you’re planning for a small business, large conglomerate, nonprofit, or even a government agency, this book has the planning specifics you need for your organization. Step-by-step, you’ll learn how to lay the foundations for a plan, understand how your plan will affect your business, form planning teams, discover what your strengths are, see where you are, and, finally, plan where you’re going. And there’s much more:

• Learn to analyze business trends that will determine your business’s future
• Set measurable, realistic goals that you can plan for and achieve
• Make strategic planning a habitual part of the organization
• Prioritize multiple strategies that you can implement simultaneously
• Set a defining vision for the organization that guides all your planning and strategy

This friendly, simple guide puts the power of...