What is a Small Business Plan?
A small business plan outlines the goals and objectives of a business, as well as the strategies and action plans to achieve those goals. A small business plan should be tailored to the specific needs of the business, and should be the result of a comprehensive market analysis and competitive research. After the research, you'll be ready to include your most important findings and insights into your plan. This small business plan should include your strategic priorities, resources and financial projections, and an action plan for implementation and execution.
What's included in this Small Business Plan template?
- 3 focus areas
- 6 objectives
- 6 projects
- 6 KPIs
Each focus area has its own objectives, projects, and KPIs to ensure that the strategy is comprehensive and effective.
Who is the Small Business Plan template for?
This Small Business Plan template is designed for small businesses of all industries to create comprehensive plans for growth and success. It is designed to provide a step-by-step process to identify and define the focus areas, objectives, projects, and KPIs necessary to support the success of the business. It provides a framework to help business owners and managers align their strategies with their goals, and to track and measure progress.
1. Define clear examples of your focus areas
The first step in creating a small business plan is to identify and define the focus areas. Focus areas are broad topics that encompass the overall goals of the business, such as increasing revenue, improving customer service, or increasing efficiency. Once the focus areas have been identified, objectives can be set to tackle each focus area.
2. Think about the objectives that could fall under that focus area
Objectives are specific goals that are intended to support the focus areas. Objectives should be achievable, measurable, and realistic. For each objective, it is important to identify and define the projects and action plans required to achieve the goals set.
Examples of some objectives for the focus area of Increase Revenue could be: Increase sales conversions, and Increase customer retention.
3. Set measurable targets (KPIs) to tackle the objective
KPIs, or key performance indicators, are measurable targets that help track progress towards achieving the objectives. For each objective, it is important to identify and define the KPIs that can be used to measure progress and success. KPIs should be measurable and achievable so they can be tracked and monitored.
An example of a KPI for the focus area of Increase Revenue could be: Increase website conversion rate from 2% to 5%.
4. Implement related projects to achieve the KPIs
Projects are the action plans that are intended to support the objectives and KPIs. Projects should be developed to support the success of the objectives and the achievement of the KPIs. Projects should be achievable, have a clear start and end date, and have a clear plan for implementation and execution.
An example of a project related to Increase Revenue could be: Improve website user experience.
5. Utilize Cascade Strategy Execution Platform to see faster results from your strategy
Cascade is a strategy execution platform that helps small businesses create, monitor, and measure their strategies and plans. Cascade enables businesses to easily track progress on their objectives and KPIs, and helps to ensure that strategies are aligned with goals and that the right projects are being implemented. With Cascade, businesses can achieve faster results from their strategies and plans.