Strategic Planning: The Stages For Long-Term Business Planning

The hardest sort of planning is long-term or strategic planning for businesses because the timeframes span years and a lot can change in that period.

I'll walk you through the steps of long-term business planning, including what to think about, what to avoid, and the best way to approach each stage.

You should conduct an honest and realistic assessment of the current business in addition to understanding the external market, the direction of trends, and all other potential influences on the business over the next two to five years. This is important when setting strategy or long-term business goals. The purpose is to paint a vision of where you want the organization to go, taking business objectives into consideration.

The procedure for strategic planning