long term business plans

Strategic Plans for Long-Term Growth: Examples and Strategies

Small to midsize businesses (SMBs) make up the vast majority of businesses in the US, according to the US Chamber of Commerce, and they are widely considered to be engines of innovation in the overall economy. But for many founders of these organizations, creating and maintaining strategic plans to keep those ships sailing smoothly five, ten, or even twenty years into the future can be immensely difficult. Don’t worry, though: We’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll guide you through strategic planning examples and approaches for small to midsize companies in all types of industries. With a little foresight, you can ensure the strategic planning process is an effective means of building a company you’ll love forever .

If you want to:

• Move your organization in the direction you intend for long-term success.
• Implement your plan smoothly for greater growth.
• Use a better platform for developing a truly effective strategic plan.

… then you’ll love this guide. Let’s get started.

What’s Covered in This Guide

Click on each to jump to that section.

What Is Strategic Planning?

How many types of business plans are there, what is the goal of strategic planning.

• How Do I Become a Strategic Leader?

4 Examples of Strategic Planning Strategies

The strategic planning process in 11 steps, what does strategic planning involve, how to implement your strategic plan, examples of strategic plans, get your strategic planning done on ninety.

Strategic planning is the process you use to:

• Establish and document a clear direction for your organization.
• Identify business goals and set priorities that create growth for your company.
• Formulate a long-term plan of action designed to achieve these objectives.
• Determine an internal system tracking and evaluating performance.

When organizations want to, they use a strategic plan to:

• Strengthen their operation.
• Focus on collective energy and resources.
• Enable leaders, teams, and other stakeholders to work toward common goals.
• Make agreements around desired results.
• Refresh direction and prevail over a changing or challenging environment.

Thinking strategically helps companies take the right action for more success and better outcomes. Some even call it an art.

Strategic plans are one of three essential business plans used to pursue important objectives for your company. When tackling challenges and determining action plans, you can think strategically, tactically, or operationally. These three thought processes often work in concert to help you create a framework that achieves your desired objectives.

• Strategic plans are designed for multilevel involvement throughout the entire organization. Leaders will look ahead to where they want to be in three, five, and ten years and develop a mission.
• Tactical plans support strategic plans. They outline the specific responsibilities and functionalities at the department level so team members know how to do their part to make the strategic plan successful.
• Operational plans focus on the highly detailed procedures, processes , and routine tasks that frontline team members must accomplish to achieve desired outcomes.

The goal of your strategic plan is to determine:

• Where your company stands in relation to the current business environment. Understand how your business operates, how you create value , and how you differentiate from your competitors.
• Where you want to take the business based on Focus Filters such as your company’s Vision, culture, Core Values, and goals . Envision how you see the company 5–10 years from now.
• What you need to do to get there. You come away from your planning sessions with a road map that helps deliver on your strategic objectives. Determine better ways to enable and implement change, schedule deadlines, and structure goals so they’re achievable .

The main purpose of your strategic plan is to create clearly defined goals for achieving the growth and success your organization needs. These goals are connected to your organization’s Vision .

How Do I Become a Strategic Leader? 

Strategic leadership, also known as strategy execution, is how you create, implement, and sustain your strategic plan so your organization moves in the direction you intend for long-term success. This usually involves establishing ongoing practices and benchmarks, allocating resources, and providing leadership that supports your Vision.

Strategic leadership can employ two different approaches:

• A prescriptive approach is analytical and focuses on how strategies are created to account for risks and opportunities.
• A descriptive approach is principle-driven and focuses on how strategies are implemented to account for risks and opportunities.

Most people agree that a strategic plan is only as good as the company’s ability to research, create, implement, evaluate, and adjust when needed. The benefits can be great when:

• Your entire organization supports the plan.
• Your business is set up to succeed.
• Your team members are more likely to stay on track without being distracted or derailed.
• You make better decisions based on metrics that facilitate course correction.
• Everyone in your company is involved and invested in better outcomes.
• Departments and teams are aligned across your company.
• People are committed to learning, leading, and coaching .
• Productivity increases, and performance improves.
• Creativity is encouraged and rewarded.

What are the four main points of strategic planning? You engage in strategic thinking so you can create effective company goals that are:

1. Purpose-driven

Align your strategic plan with the Vision as you understand it.

2. Actionable

Actionable strategic goals are worth spending your time and resources on to reach organizational objectives.

3. Measurable

It’s critical for you to track your strategy's progress and success, enabling your teams to take action and meet the goals more effectively.

4. Focused Long-term

A long-term focus distinguishes a strategic plan from operational goals, which involve daily activities and milestones required for success. When planning strategically, you’re looking ahead to the company’s future.

A strategic plan isn’t written in a day: Critical thinking evolves over several months. Those involved in the strategic planning are usually a Senior Leadership Team and team members from your company and possibly other stakeholders.

When should strategic planning be done?

You should plan strategically for startups and newer organizations from the start. But even if your company is a more established small or midsize business, it’s not too late to start working on strategy.

Flexible timing that’s tailored to the needs of your organization is smart. Although the frequency of strategy sessions is up to you, many leaders use these milestones as a guide:

• When the economy, your market, and industry trends change, or a global event occurs (like the onset of a pandemic)
• Following a change in senior leadership
• Before a product launch or when a new division is added to your business
• After your company merges with another organization
• During a convenient time frame such as a quarterly and annual review

Many organizations opt to schedule regular strategic reviews either quarterly or annually. Especially when crafting a plan, your strategic planning team should meet regularly. They will often follow predetermined steps in the development of your long-term plan.

What are the 11 steps of strategic planning?

1. identify your company’s strategic position in the marketplace..

Gather market data and research information from both internal and external sources. You may want to conduct a comprehensive SWOT analysis . Your strengths and weaknesses are directly related to your current competitive advantage within your industry. They're what you use to balance challenges to your success. They also influence the likelihood of increased market share in the future.

2. Define your unique Vision.

What would success look like for you in three years? Five years? Ten years? Articulate that in your Vision. Formulating purpose-driven strategic goals articulates why your company does what it does. Your organizational values inform your Vision and connect them to specific objectives.

3. Determine your company’s value.

Many companies use financial forecasting for this purpose. A forecast can assign anticipated measurable results, return on investment, or profits and cost of investment.

4. Set your organizational direction.

Defining the impact you want to have and the time frame for achieving it helps focus a too-broad or over-ambitious first draft. This way, your plan will have objectives that will have the most impact. 

5. Create specific strategic objectives.

Your strategic objectives identify the conditions for your success. For instance, they may cover:

• Value: Increasing revenue and shareholder value, budgeting cost, allocating resources aligned with the strategic plan, forecasting profitability, and ensuring financial stability. 
• Customer Experience: Identifying target audiences, solution-based products and services, value for the cost, better service, and increased market share.
• Operational Efficiency: Streamlining internal processes, investing in research and development, total quality and performance priorities, reducing cost, and improving workplace safety.
• Learning and Growth: Training leaders and teams to address change and sustain growth, improving employee productivity and retention, and building high-performing teams.

6. Set specific strategic initiatives.

Strategic initiatives are your company's actions to reach your strategic objectives, such as raising brand awareness, a commitment to product development, purpose-driven employee training, and more.

7. Develop cascading goals.

Cascading goals are like cascading messages : They filter your strategy throughout the company from top to bottom. The highest-level goals align with both mid-level goals and the individual goals team members must accomplish to achieve overall outcomes. This helps everyone see how their performance will influence overall success, which improves engagement and productivity.

8. Create alignment across the entire company.

The success of your strategy is directly impacted by your commitment to inform and engage your entire workforce in strategy implementation. This involves ensuring everyone is connected and working together to achieve your goals. Overall decision-making becomes easier and more aligned.

9. Consider strategy mapping.

A strategy map is an easy-to-understand diagram, graphic, or illustration that shows the logical, cause-and-effect relationship among various strategic objectives. They are used to quickly communicate how your organization creates value. It will help you communicate the details of your strategic plan better to people by tapping into their visual learning abilities.

10. Use metrics to measure performance.

When your strategy informs the creation of SMART organizational goals , benchmarks can be established and metrics can be assigned to evaluate performance within specific time frames. Key performance indicators align performance and productivity with long-term strategic objectives. 

11. Evaluate the performance of your plan regularly.

You write a strategic plan to improve your company’s overall performance. Evaluating your progress at regular intervals will tell you whether you’re on your way to achieving your objectives or whether your plan needs an adjustment.

Effective strategic planning involves creating a company culture of good communication and accountability. It involves creating and embracing the opportunity for positive change.

Consider these statistics:

• In many companies, only 42% of leaders and 27% of employees have access to a strategic plan.
• Even if they have access, 95% of employees do not understand their organization's strategy.
• 5.2% of a strategy’s potential is lost to poor communication.
• What leaders care about makes up at least 80% of the content of their communications. But those messages do not tap into around 80% of their employees’ primary motivators for putting extra energy into a change program.
• 28% of leaders say one of the main reasons strategic initiatives succeed is the ability to attract skilled personnel; 25% say it’s good communication; 25% say it’s the ability to manage organizational change.

Here’s what you can do to embrace a culture of good communication and accountability:

Make your strategic plan visible. Talk about what's working and what isn't. People want to know where and how they fit into the organization and why their contribution is valuable — even if they don't understand every element of the plan.

Build accountability. If you've agreed on a plan with clear objectives and priorities, your leaders have to take responsibility for what's in it. They must own the objectives and activities in your plan.

Create an environment for change. It’s much more difficult to implement a strategy if you think there will be no support or collaboration from your team members. Addressing their concerns will help build a culture that understands how to champion change.

• 98% of leaders think strategy implementation takes more time than strategy formulation.
• 61% of leaders acknowledge that their organizations often struggle to bridge the gap between strategy formulation and its day-to-day implementation.
• 45% of leaders say ensuring team members take different actions or demonstrate different behaviors is the toughest implementation challenge; 37% of leaders say it’s gaining support across the whole organization.
• 39% of leaders say one of the main reasons strategic plans succeed is skilled implementation.

The reality for so many is that it’s harder to implement a strategic plan than to craft one. Great strategic ideas and a clear direction are key to success, no matter what. But so is:

• Turning strategic ideas into an easy-to-implement framework that enables meaningful managing, tracking, and adapting
• Getting everyone in the organization on the same strategic page, from creation to execution

When your plan is structured to support implementation, you're more likely to get it done.

What are examples of good strategic planning? If you prefer a more traditional approach, there's lots of templates out there to help you create a plan document with pen and paper whether you're a for-profit or nonprofit entity .

But Ninety has a better way.

The Vision planner is essentially a strategic planning template on Ninety’s cloud-based platform that allows you to:

• Set goals, establish how you will meet them, and share them with those who need to know.
• Gain visibility around your company's Core Values .
• Create Core Values, a niche, and long-term goals that are accessible to everyone in your company.
• Create a Vision that lets you know what needs to happen now.
• Easily update and track changes.
• Bring alignment to your entire organization.

And you can do all this with only two digitized pages.

In your Vision tool inside Ninety, you can easily access all the things that make strategic plans effective by either using our default categories or making custom ones that meet your company’s specific needs. While you can include information about your Vision, goals, SWOT analysis, and key performance indicators from the start, here are some examples of custom options you could add to help more effectively implement your strategic plan: 

• Executive Summary
• Elevator Pitch
• Compelling Why
• Industry Analysis
• Marketing Strategy
• Operations Plan
• Financial Projections

Your Vision and goals are also completely integrated with all other features on Ninety, such as Scorecards, Rocks, To-Dos, Issues, Org Chart , Meetings, 1-on-1s, and more:

• Create a clear game plan for each team.
• Determine one- and three-year goals.
• Reference past versions in a Vision archive.
• Share your Vision with all teams, or keep it private if it's still in progress.

Now that you’ve learned how to grow your company using strategic planning, it’s time to put your knowledge into practice:

Build your strategic plan on Ninety now .

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How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist

You don’t need a time line; you need a time cone.

Chief strategy officers and those responsible for shaping the direction of their organizations are often asked to facilitate “visioning” meetings. This helps teams brainstorm ideas, but it isn’t a substitute for critical thinking about the future. Neither are the one-, three-, or five-year strategic plans that have become a staple within most organizations, though they are useful for addressing short-term operational goals. Futurists think about time differently, and company strategists could learn from their approach. For any given uncertainty about the future — whether that’s risk, opportunity, or growth — we tend to think in the short- and long-term simultaneously. To do this, consider using a framework that doesn’t rely on linear timelines or simply mark the passage of time as quarters or years. Instead, use a time cone that measures certainty and charts actions.

I recently helped a large industrial manufacturing company with its strategic planning process. With so much uncertainty surrounding autonomous vehicles, 5G, robotics, global trade, and the oil markets, the company’s senior leaders needed a set of guiding objectives and strategies linking the company’s future to the present day. Before our work began in earnest, executives had already decided on a title for the initiative: Strategy 2030.

• Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist, CEO of Future Today Institute, and professor of strategic foresight at the New York University Stern School of Business. She is the author of The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream ,  The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity , and The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology .

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11 Tips for Creating a Long-Term Strategic Plan

7 min. read

Updated October 29, 2023

Strategic planning is a management tool that guides your business to better performance and long-term success.

Working with a plan will focus your efforts, unify your team in a single direction, and help guide you through tough business decisions. A strategic plan requires you to define your goals, and in defining them, enables you to achieve them—a huge competitive advantage.

In this article, we’ll discuss 11 essentials for creating a thorough and effective strategic plan. Each tip is a critical stepping stone in leading your business toward your goals.

• 1. Define your company vision

You should be able to define your company vision in 100 words. Develop this statement and make it publically available to both employees and customers.

This statement should answer the key questions that drive your business: Where is your company headed? What do you want your company to be? If you don’t know the answer to these questions off the top of your head, then you have some thinking to do! If you have the answers in your head, but not on paper—get writing.

If you have them written down, congrats! You’ve completed the first and most critical step in creating a long-term strategic plan.

• 2. Define your personal vision

While your personal vision is just as important to your strategic plan, it does not need to be shared with your team and customers.

Your personal vision should incorporate what you want your business to bring to your life—whether that’s enormous growth, early retirement, or simply more time to spend with family and friends.

Aligning your personal vision with your company vision is key to achieving your personal and professional goals. Just as with your company vision, have your personal vision written down in a 100-word statement. Know that statement inside and out and keep it at the forefront of your decision making.

• 3. Know your business

Conduct a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. By knowing where your business is now, you can make more informed predictions for how it can grow.

Questions such as “Why is this business important?” and “What does this business do best?” are a great place to start. A SWOT analysis can also help you plan for making improvements.

Questions such as “What needs improvement?” and “What more could the business be doing?” can help guide your strategic plan in a way that closes gaps and opens up opportunities.

For more on completing a SWOT analysis, see our SWOT analysis guide.

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• 4. Establish short-term goals

Short-term goals should include everything you (realistically) want to achieve over the next 36 months.

Goals should be “S.M.A.R.T.” (specific, measurable, actionable, reasonable, and timely).

An example of S.M.A.R.T. goals include “building out a new product or service within the next year” or “increasing net profit by 2 percent in ten months.” If you’ve already conducted a SWOT analysis, you should have an idea of what your business can reasonably achieve over a specified period of time.

• 5. Outline strategies

Strategies are the steps you’ll take to meet your short-term goals. If the short term goal is “build out a new product or service,” the strategies might be:

• Researching competitor offerings
• Getting in touch with vendors and suppliers
• Formulating a development plan
• Outlining a marketing and sales plan for the new offering
• 6. Create an action plan

An action plan is an essential part of the business planning and strategy development process. The best analysis, in-depth market research, and creative strategizing are pointless unless they lead to action.

An action plan needs to be a working document; it must be easy to change and update. But, must also be specific about what you’re doing, when you will do it, who will be accountable, what resources will be needed, and how that action will be measured.

Action plans put a process to your strategies. Using the previous example, an action plan might be: “CMO develops competitor research packet for new offerings by 9/1. Review packet with the executive team by 9/15.”

When The Alternative Board, Bradford West  Director Andrew Hartley was responsible for designing and delivering a three year, $10m environmental business support program, a full and detailed action plan was required for funding.

“That action plan allowed me to 1.) manage and measure the evolving program, 2.) ensure resources and staff were where they needed to be, and 3.) track whether the design of the program was working and delivering the level of results we were contracted to deliver,” says Hartley.

“Even I was surprised about how helpful that action plan was,” he says. “I cannot image approaching any significant project or business without one.”

• 7. Foster strategic communication

To align your team, you must communicate strategically. Results-driven communication focuses conversations and cuts out excessive meetings. Every communication should be rooted in a specific goal.

Include the how, where, when, and most importantly why every time you deliver instructions, feedback, updates, and so on.

• 8. Review and modify regularly

Check in regularly to make sure you’re progressing toward your goals. A weekly review of your goals, strategies, and action plans can help you see if you need to make any modifications.

Schedule time in your calendar for this. Weekly check-ins allow you to reassess your plan in light of any progress, setbacks, or changes.

• 9. Hold yourself accountable

Having a business coach or mentor is great for this. If you have a hard time sticking to your plans, you’ll have an equally hard time meeting your goals.

According to The Alternative Board’s September 2015 Business Pulse Survey, the number one reason business owners choose to work with mentors is accountability.

“Having a close—but not too close—space for advice and accountability is really valuable,” says TAB Member Scott Lininger, CEO of Bitsbox. “Someone who is too close to your business (such as board members) often have a perspective that’s too similar to your own. Over time, your coach comes to know your team, your product, and your business, and they help you work through all kinds of challenges in a way that’s unique.”

“All too often I find that leaders accept underperformance against their strategic plan too easily,” adds Hartley. “A coach can rekindle the resolve and ambition of the leader, resulting in a recovery of lost margins, sales, or output.”

According to Hartley, a coach can build accountability by questioning what’s working, making sure everything’s on track, pointing out areas of underperformance, and asking what corrective action needs to be pursued.

• 10. Be adaptable

Remember: You can’t plan for everything. Just as challenges will arrive, so too will opportunities, and you must be ready at a moment’s notice to amend your plan. Weekly reviews will help enormously with this.

“A strategic plan will likely need to be changed very soon after approval because nobody can accurately predict anything but the very near term future,” says Jim Morris, owner and President of The Alternative Board, Tennessee Valley. “You stay adaptable by monitoring the plan every day. The wise leader will be constantly looking for opportunities to exceed the strategic plan by being opportunistic, creative, and by exploiting weaknesses in the competitive market.”

By doing this, Morris was able to exceed forecast results of every strategic plan he ever approved. “The times when I needed to be flexible were when we met strategic plan goals ahead of time and had to rewrite the plan to keep it current and relevant.”

It’s important to be adaptable because nothing stays the same. “It’s more important to be agile and take advantage of opportunities that weren’t foreseen and make adjustments,” says Morris. “This and a continuous improvement mindset is the best way to exceed plan goals.”

• 11. Create a strategic planning team

As a business owner, you should never feel like you have to do everything alone.

A strategic planning team can help with every phase of the process, from creating a company vision to adapting your strategy week-to-week. Compose your team of key management staff and employees—some visionaries and some executors.

If you think you’re “too busy” for start strategic planning, then you need strategic planning more than you know. Having a focused plan allows you to focus your energies, so you’re working on your business, rather than in it. As a business owner, it is your responsibility to steer the ship, not put out day-to-day fires.

Yes, creating a strategic plan is challenging, and it’s certainly time-consuming, but it will make all the difference in achieving your long term goals. You’ll avoid making bad decisions and expending more effort than you need.

Try these 11 tips to get started, and then be flexible in your ongoing approach. You’ll be amazed at how much more streamlined your business processes will become when you are working with a long-term strategic plan.

Jodie Shaw is The Alternative Board (TAB)’s Chief Marketing Officer. She brings over 20 years of B2B marketing and 10 years in franchising to the role. Prior to to her work with TAB, Jodie served as the CEO and Global Chief Marketing Officer of an international business coaching franchise, serving more than 50 countries.

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The Ultimate Guide to Successful Long-Term Planning

Long-term planning is a crucial aspect of any successful business or organization. It involves creating a roadmap for the future, setting goals and objectives, and implementing strategies to achieve them. In this article, we will explore the importance of long-term planning, define what it entails, and discuss the benefits it can bring.

What is Long-Term Planning?

Long-term planning refers to the process of setting goals and objectives that extend beyond the immediate future. It involves analyzing current market trends, identifying key milestones, and developing strategies to achieve sustainable growth over an extended period. This type of planning takes into account various factors such as market dynamics, customer needs , and internal capabilities.

The Importance of Long-Term Planning Strategies

Long-term planning is essential because it provides direction and purpose for an organization. It allows businesses to anticipate challenges, identify opportunities, and make informed decisions aligning with their vision. By taking a proactive approach to the future, organizations can stay ahead of the competition and adapt to changing market conditions.

Benefits of Successful Long-Term Planning

Successful long-term planning offers numerous benefits for businesses. Firstly, it provides a sense of direction and purpose that guides decision-making at all levels of the organization. Secondly, it helps align resources effectively by identifying priorities and allocating them accordingly. Additionally, long-term planning enables businesses to build resilience by anticipating risks and developing contingency plans.

Long-term planning strategies are crucial in ensuring an organization's success in today's dynamic business environment. By adopting these strategies, businesses can navigate uncertainties while capitalizing on emerging opportunities.

Remember: Successful long-term planning starts with understanding its importance and what it entails.

Understanding Long-Term Planning

Long-term planning is a crucial aspect of business success, as it allows organizations to set clear goals and objectives for the future. By understanding the fundamentals of long-term planning, companies can develop effective strategies to navigate the ever-changing market landscape and achieve sustainable growth.

Defining Long-Term Goals and Objectives

Defining long-term goals and objectives is the foundation of any successful long-term plan. These goals provide a clear direction for the organization and serve as a roadmap for decision-making. Long-term goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). They should align with the company's vision and values while considering external factors such as market trends and customer demands.

Identifying Key Milestones and Benchmarks

To track progress towards long-term goals, it is essential to identify key milestones and benchmarks along the way. Milestones are significant achievements that mark important stages in the plan's execution. Benchmarks, on the other hand, are measurable indicators used to assess performance against predetermined targets. By regularly monitoring these milestones and benchmarks, businesses can ensure they stay on track towards their long-term objectives.

Assessing the Current Market Landscape

Understanding the current market landscape is critical for effective long-term planning. This involves conducting thorough research and analysis of industry trends, competitor strategies, customer preferences, technological advancements, and regulatory changes. By gaining insights into these factors, organizations can identify potential opportunities or threats that may impact their long-term plan. This assessment helps businesses make informed decisions about resource allocation, product development, marketing strategies, and more.

By defining long-term goals and objectives, identifying key milestones and benchmarks along the way, as well as assessing the current market landscape, businesses can lay a strong foundation for their long-term planning strategies. This comprehensive understanding sets the stage for developing an effective long-term plan that aligns with organizational aspirations and maximizes opportunities for success.

Developing a Long-Term Plan

Developing a long-term plan is crucial for the success and sustainability of any organization. It provides a roadmap for achieving goals and objectives over an extended period of time. In this section, we will explore the key steps involved in developing a comprehensive long-term plan.

Creating a Vision Statement

A vision statement serves as the foundation for a long-term plan. It outlines the organization's desired future state and clarifies its purpose and direction. A well-crafted vision statement inspires and motivates employees, stakeholders, and customers alike.

To create an effective vision statement, it is important to consider the organization's values, mission, and unique selling proposition. It should be concise, memorable, and reflective of the organization's aspirations. By clearly articulating where the organization wants to be in the long run, a vision statement sets the stage for strategic decision-making.

Setting SMART Goals

Setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals is essential in long-term planning. These goals provide clear targets that can be tracked and evaluated over time.

Specific goals outline precisely what needs to be achieved, while measurable goals allow progress to be quantified objectively. Achievable goals ensure that they are within reach considering available resources and capabilities. Relevant goals align with the overall objectives of the organization.

Time-bound goals establish deadlines or milestones to keep progress on track. By setting SMART goals during long-term planning, organizations can effectively allocate resources and prioritize initiatives that contribute to their desired future state.

Conducting a SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is an important tool in developing a long-term plan as it helps identify internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats facing an organization.

By thoroughly assessing these factors, organizations gain valuable insights into their current position in relation to market conditions and competition. This analysis enables them to capitalize on their strengths, address weaknesses, seize opportunities, and mitigate potential threats.

A SWOT analysis provides a holistic view of the organization's internal and external environment, which is essential for making informed decisions and formulating effective strategies in the long term.

Strategies for Successful Long-Term Planning

Building a Strong Team

To ensure the success of long-term planning, it is crucial to build a strong team aligned with the company's vision. This team should consist of individuals with diverse skills and expertise, allowing for comprehensive analysis and decision-making. Different perspectives can be considered by fostering collaboration and open communication within the team, leading to well-rounded long-term strategies.

Utilizing Data and Analytics

Data and analytics play a pivotal role in effective long-term planning. Organizations can gain valuable insights into their target market's needs and preferences by leveraging data from various sources, such as market research, customer insights, and industry trends. Analyzing this data enables businesses to make informed decisions about resource allocation, product development, and marketing strategies. By utilizing data-driven approaches in long-term planning, companies can increase their chances of achieving their goals.

Adapting to Changing Market Conditions

In today's dynamic business landscape, market conditions are constantly evolving. Successful long-term planning requires organizations to stay agile and adaptable. It is essential to continuously monitor market trends and competitor activities to identify potential threats or opportunities that may arise. By proactively adapting their strategies based on changing market conditions, businesses can position themselves for long-term success.

By incorporating these strategies into the long-term plan, businesses can enhance their chances of achieving sustained success in an ever-changing marketplace.

Implementing the Long-Term Plan

Implementing the long-term plan is a crucial step in ensuring its success. It effectively allocates resources, establishes clear roles and responsibilities, and monitors and evaluates progress.

Allocating Resources Effectively

Allocating resources effectively is essential for the successful execution of a long-term plan. This involves carefully determining how to distribute resources such as finances, manpower, and technology to achieve the desired goals. Organizations can optimize their efficiency and productivity by strategically allocating resources based on priority and need.

Establishing Clear Roles and Responsibilities

Establishing clear roles and responsibilities is key to avoiding confusion and ensuring everyone understands their part in executing the long-term plan. By clearly defining who is responsible for what tasks, teams can work collaboratively toward achieving common objectives. Effective communication of roles helps streamline processes, minimizes duplication of efforts, and fosters accountability among team members.

Monitoring and Evaluating Progress

Monitoring and evaluating progress is vital to track the implementation of the long-term plan and make necessary adjustments along the way. Regularly measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) allows organizations to assess whether they are on track toward achieving their goals or if any modifications are required. By analyzing progress, organizations can identify areas of improvement or potential challenges that need addressing.

Implementing a long-term plan requires effective resource allocation, clear role establishment, and continuous progress monitoring. By following these strategies diligently, organizations can enhance their chances of successfully executing their long-term plans while maximizing their growth potential.

Overcoming Challenges in Long-Term Planning

Dealing with Uncertainty and Risk. In long-term planning, one of the major challenges is dealing with uncertainty and risk. The future is unpredictable; factors can always derail even the most well-thought-out plans. However, instead of being overwhelmed by uncertainty, successful long-term planners embrace it as an opportunity for growth and innovation. They develop contingency plans to mitigate risks and adapt their strategies based on changing circumstances. By acknowledging and addressing uncertainty head-on, they are better equipped to navigate the unknown and achieve long-term goals.

Managing Stakeholder Expectations. Another challenge in long-term planning is managing stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders may have varying priorities, timelines, and expectations for the plan's outcome. It is crucial to engage all stakeholders early on in the planning process to ensure alignment and avoid conflicts. Effective communication plays a vital role in managing stakeholder expectations throughout the implementation of the long-term plan. Planners can build trust and maintain support from all parties involved by informing stakeholders about progress, proactively addressing concerns, and seeking feedback regularly.

Maintaining Flexibility in the Plan. Flexibility is key when it comes to long-term planning strategies. As circumstances change over time, it is essential to remain adaptable and open to adjustments in the plan. A rigid plan that does not account for unexpected events or new opportunities can quickly become obsolete or ineffective. Successful long-term planners regularly review their strategies and reassess their goals based on market conditions, technology advancements, or other relevant factors. Maintaining flexibility within their plan allows them to seize emerging opportunities or pivot when necessary without compromising their overall vision.

Long-term planning is crucial for organizations to achieve sustained success. Planners can navigate these obstacles by understanding the challenges that may arise, such as dealing with uncertainty and risk, managing stakeholder expectations, and maintaining flexibility in the plan. Organizations can overcome hurdles and achieve long-term goals by carefully considering these challenges and implementing appropriate strategies. Let's embrace the power of long-term thinking and take action for a successful future.

Long-term planning is a crucial aspect of achieving success in any endeavor. By carefully considering the future and developing a comprehensive long-term plan, individuals and organizations can set themselves up for sustainable growth and prosperity.

Strikingly and Your Long-Term Planning Strategy

Strikingly is a website builder that can be used to create a professional website for your business. It offers a variety of features that can be helpful for long-term planning, such as:

• Analytics. Strikingly provides detailed analytics about your website traffic so you can track your progress over time and make necessary adjustments to your long-term plan.
• Goal tracking . You can set goals for your website, such as increasing traffic or generating leads, and Strikingly will help you track your progress toward those goals.

Image taken from Strikingly

• Reporting. Strikingly provides reports that you can use to analyze your website traffic and performance. This information can help you make decisions about your long-term plan.
• Integrations. Strikingly integrates with various other tools, such as email marketing platforms and CRM software. This can help you automate tasks and streamline your long-term planning process.

In addition to these features, Strikingly can also help you with long-term planning by providing you with a platform to:

• Create a strong online presence. Your website is your online storefront, and ensuring it's well-designed and informative is important. Strikingly can help you create a website to impress your customers and help you grow your business .

Image taken from Strikingly  

• Reach a wider audience. Strikingly makes it easy to promote your website through social media, email marketing, and other channels. This can help you reach a wider audience and grow your business .
• Stay ahead of the competition. The business landscape is constantly changing, and staying ahead of the competition is important. Strikingly can help you track your competitors' websites and make sure yours is always up-to-date.

Overall, Strikingly can be a valuable tool for businesses that are looking to create a long-term plan. The platform's features and integrations can help you track your progress, set goals, and make informed decisions about your future.

Here are some specific ways that Strikingly can be used for long-term planning for businesses:

• Set goals. You can use Strikingly's goal-tracking features to set specific goals for your website, such as increasing traffic or generating leads. This will help you stay focused and motivated as you work towards your long-term plan.

• Track progress. Strikingly's analytics features can help you track your website traffic and performance over time. This information can be used to measure your progress toward your goals and make necessary adjustments to your long-term plan.
• Identify opportunities. Strikingly's reporting features can help you identify opportunities to improve your website and grow your business. For example, you could use the reports to see which pages on your website are most popular or which keywords drive traffic.

If you're looking for a website builder that can help you with long-term planning for your business, Strikingly is a good option to consider. The platform's features and integrations can help you track your progress, set goals, and make informed decisions about your future.

The Power of Long-Term Thinking

Long-term thinking allows individuals and organizations to see beyond the immediate challenges and focus on the bigger picture. It enables them to anticipate future trends , identify potential obstacles, and make informed decisions that will benefit them in the long run.

While planning is essential, taking action on those plans is equally important. Implementation is key to turning dreams into reality. By executing their long-term plans effectively and adapting as needed, individuals and organizations can pave the way for a successful future.

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10 Examples of Long-Term Business Goals to Set Now

December 15, 2023, identify, set, and achieve long-term business goals for success.

Today I want to share examples of long-term business goals with you. Because thinking long-term about your business is key to its success.

One of my former bosses had a good saying. And I think it applies to long-term goals for a business.

My boss used to tell us this. “In the long run, we are only limited by our thoughts. Don’t hold back. Think big!”

So, let’s dive in and think big about our businesses…

Disclosure: At no cost to you, I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

Examples Of Long-Term Business Goals

First of all, here you will find today’s examples of long-term business goals list for your consideration:

• Expand into a new geographic market
• Market through a new channel
• Penetrate a new demographic
• Broaden product and service offerings
• Acquire a competitor
• Expand personnel and facilities
• Migrate to a new technology platform
• Put financing sources in place
• Increase earnings
• Improve profit margins

Next, let’s make sure we are completely aligned on today’s topic.  Identifying, setting, and achieving these 10 examples of long-term goals for a business.

Long-Term Business Goals Definition

First of all, a goal is an outcome you want to achieve. That a person envisions, plans for, and commits to achieve.

Furthermore, goals can relate to many aspects of our lives. For example, self-development, career, health, fitness, and personal finance outcomes .

But today, we are talking about goals related to your business.

More specifically, we are talking about long-term goals for a small business . Or, larger businesses too.

Typically, long-term goals take more planning. And more time to achieve. Normally, it takes 5 years or more to accomplish a long-term goal.

Furthermore, long-term goals are more strategic. And they require a vision of what your business will look like in the distant future.

While ensuring its long-term success, growth, and profitability. As you make the journey.

Finally, business goals can be non-financial . Or, they can be tied to a specific financial outcome.

Long-Term Goals For A Business Versus Other Types Of Goals

Businesses also have short-term goals and medium-term goals. Let’s compare and contrast…

Short-Term Business Goals

Short-term business goals are to be accomplished within 1 year.

Their focus is on solving today’s problems. Or, activities in the near term. That creates a foundation for long-term success.

Examples of short-term business goals include:

• Increase on-time delivery from 95% to 99%
• Reduce overhead costs by 3%
• Prepare a business plan

Medium-Term Business Goals

Medium-term goals should be set and completed within a 1-5 year time horizon.

These goals are intended to move your business forward in a meaningful way. But, are too involved to complete within a year.

Examples of good medium-term goals for business include:

• Increase market share by 5%
• Develop and bring to market a product line extension
• Increase shareholder value by $1 million

Next, before we touch on the examples. A little more talk about long-term goals for a business…

The Big Picture View Of Long-Term Business Goals

Today’s examples of long-term business goals are more strategic. Versus short and medium-term goals.

They are not about solving today’s problems. Or, about improving your business on the margins in the next few years.

They are for taking big steps forward. And transforming your business into something bigger and better in the future. Versus what it is today.

These goals take more than 2-3 years to accomplish without causing business instability.

They require careful thought about the direction you wish your business to take. Then planning, resources, and careful execution.

For more on these strategic topics…

consider this excellent course on business strategy and leadership .

But for now, I think about long-term goals for a business in one of three categories:

1. Extending market reach. Specifically, growing business revenue in different and dramatic ways.

2. Ensuring the ability to scale. Having success with growth means being able to handle it. In other words, scaling operations to service the new markets and customers you are reaching.

3 . Balancing growth and profits. Substantial business growth is good. It certainly beats the alternative.

But rapid growth is hard to execute. And it must be done profitably.

Thus, all 10 of today’s examples of long-term business goals fall into one of these categories.

Now, let’s go through each of the 10 goals on our list. All of them can be good investments to make in your business .

1. Expand Into A New Geographic Market

Plan for and expand into new geographic markets. For example, if you operate in Utah. Expand into the high business growth state of Colorado .

If your business services the Western portion of the country. Extend it throughout the United States.

Finally, consider foreign expansion. But, understand that these are big steps. Require careful thought and planning.

Up next in the long-term goals examples for business: channel strategy…

2. Go To Market Through A New Channel

Identify all the possible channels through which your products and services can be sold. Then delivered to your customers.

Utilize one or more marketing channels that have not yet been tapped.

For example, consider a targeted social media strategy. That drives traffic to an online store on your website.

3. Penetrate A New Demographic

Your current products and services are likely popular with a certain demographic.

So, evaluate your marketing plan. To tap into demand from a different segment of the population .

4. Broaden Product And Service Offerings

Enhance and broaden your product lines. Innovate and develop new products and services.

But, be sure they fit within your company’s mission. And customer service value proposition.

So, don’t stray too far. From your business’s core strengths.

Okay.  It’s time for the 5th in our series of long-term goals for business examples: mergers and acquisitions…

5. Acquire A Competitor

Acquiring a competitor can be the quickest way to extend your business’s market reach. And this brings us to the “buy or build” dilemma.

You have to decide if it’s more effective to extend your market reach on your own. In other words, building out those capabilities internally.

Or doing so. by buying a competitor. Specifically, a competitor that has accomplished what your business has not. This is the reasoning behind strategic acquisitions.

When it comes to the buy or build decisions. There is no right or wrong answer.

Each situation will be different. And every business will be different. Including yours.

Okay. So the first 5 examples of long-term business goals relate to extending your business’s market reach.

Accomplish any one or more of these goals. And your business will experience revenue growth. Sometimes, rapid revenue growth.

And rapid growth requires the ability to scale. This leads us to the next few long-term goals for business…

6. Expand Personnel And Facilities

Ensure you have the team in place to handle the influx of business. Including the quantity and quality of staff. Also, management personnel.

Develop and put a personnel plan in place. Including an employee professional development and onboarding program.

Then make sure you have the appropriate facilities. That solves for the right locations, footprint, and space.

This includes production, warehouse, distribution, and office space. Depending on your specific business needs.

Also, consider business outsourcing. Another buy or build decision. As part of scaling up to meet demand.

7. Migrate To A New Technology Platform

Don’t forget about technology. Because most successful businesses run on an enterprise-wide system.

If your business does not have the appropriate technology in place. Or, its capacity is limited.

Then make improving your technology infrastructure a long-term business goal.

8. Put Financing Sources In Place

If you have one, your CFO should be in charge of this goal.

Because growth by extending market reach. And putting the people, facilities, and technology in place to service it. Requires one very important thing.

What’s that? It is cash.

Because it takes money to make money. And investing in growth doesn’t come for free.

Where your cash comes from . Be it debt financing, equity financing, or internally generated funds. Don’t let access to capital derail your long-term business plans.

Okay now. Our final 2 examples of long-term business goals fall in the third category.

Specifically, balancing growth versus business profit goals . Since growth without profit, or at the very least, profit potential. Is no fun when operating a business.

9. Increase Earnings

So, set a long-term earnings goal. And first, put it into dollar terms.

For example, increase pre-tax income from $250,000 to $750,000. That’s a big jump in profit. And why it’s a long-term goal for a business.

But, make sure you have accurate financial information. To do so, consider outsourcing your financial management. Assuming you aren’t up to doing it yourself.

Now, it’s time for our last example of long-term goals in business. Then I will wrap up…

10. Maintain or Improve Profit Margins

Then, make sure your business’s profit margin is stable or even increasing. When I say profit margin, I’m talking about pre-tax income divided by revenue.

Continuing the example from above. Let’s say you did $250,000 in pre-tax profit on $1 million in revenue. So, your profit margin is 25%

Your long-term goal should be to at least maintain that margin. Therefore the new income target of $750,000. Should be generated from no more than $3,000,000 in revenue.

Your profit goals should be part of your financial planning . And, included in pro-forma financial statements.

Make sure the financials encompass all of the economics. Of whatever goals you choose to set.

Finally, I always recommend that business owners keep their personal finances. Separate from their business finances.

I use Personal Capital to track all of my spending and investments. And keep them separate from my business.

Best of all, Personal Capital is free to sign up and use. You can learn more about Personal Capital here .

Next, a few words about setting business goals. Here’s the best way to go about it…

How To Set Long-Term Business Goals

Business long-term goals should be set using SMART . A SMART goal includes the following 5 attributes…

Specific. Make your goals as detailed as possible. Outlining exactly what you want to accomplish.

Measurable. Determine how you will measure success. Both the interim steps and the completion of the goal.

Achievable. Stretch yourself and your organization. But don’t waste time with goals that can’t be achieved.

Realistic. A goal may be achievable. But it may not be realistic. Determine this by looking at your constraints.

For example, a goal may be achievable. But if it requires an amount of capital that you are unable to obtain. Then it’s not realistic.

In this case, access to capital is the constraint. Other constraints include the ability to attract employees and overall market conditions.

Time-bound. Set a deadline for when the goal will be accomplished. A long-term business goal should be out at least 4-5 years from now.

Finally, be sure to align your goals from short to long term . As a result, they will complement each other.

Since the complexity of long-term goals leads to long time horizons. Achieving these goals is challenging.

So, set yourself up for success…

How To Achieve Long-Term Business Goals

Students of goal-setting use three more steps. After setting goals using the SMART system.

Specifically, businesses that achieve these examples of long-term goals for business do 3 more things.

Specifically, they plan, act, and monitor (PAM) to successfully achieve goals .

Plan. Long-run goals require a plan. Those step-by-step actions, deliverables, and accountability that must be completed on the path to success.

Action. This should speak for itself. But it’s important. Get the planning done. Then, act. Furthermore, involve your employees in goal-setting processes.

Because people tend to delay working on long-term goals in a business. Thus, time management is critical for success.

Monitor. Finally, it’s important to monitor progress against the plan. Every 3-6 months.

Work through the SMART and PAM goal systems. Document as you go. Commit to all your goals and plans in writing.

Research shows that a written goal. Has a much higher success rate. Versus a goal that is not.

Then appoint a person who has the overall task to see the goal through to the end. And give them the resources required to be successful.

Lack of focus and lack of accountability diminishes the chances of success. When pursuing your organization’s goals over a long period.

Okay. Let’s wrap today’s article up with a summary…

Summary: Examples Of Long-Term Business Goals

10 Examples Of Long-Term Business Goals include:

In my opinion, any of these 10 objectives are good examples of long-term goals for a new business. Or, a mature business that has been operating for a while.

They are perfect complements to this…

course I really like about business strategy

…it’s full of great lessons on how to take your business to the next level.

Categories Of Long-Term Business Goals

These business goal examples fall into 1 of the 3 broad categories:

• Extending market reach
• Ensuring the ability to scale
• Balancing growth and profit

In the case of the first two categories. A business owner will be confronted with the options to buy, build, or outsource.

Finally, all goals should be set with an eye on the third category. That is balancing growth and profit.

Setting Long-Term Business Goals

Make SMART goals for your company . They should be:

Achieve Your Long-Term Business Goals

Achieve your goals with PAM:

Document your goals and your plan. By committing to them in writing. Then get to work on your long-term goals for a business.

More Reading About Setting And Achieving Goals

• Level up your money game with these articles
• Move your business to this low-tax state
• Avoid these financial problems

Author Bio : Tom Scott founded the consulting and coaching firm Dividends Diversify, LLC. He leverages his expertise and decades of experience in goal setting, relocation assistance, and investing for long-term wealth to help clients reach their full potential.