Strategic Planning For Dummies (For Dummies (Business and...

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
• Published by: For Dummies October 30, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0470037164
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0470037164
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Product Description
If you’re starting a new business or planning your business’s future, there are plenty of things you should take into account. Strategic Planning For Dummies covers everything you need to know to develop a plan for building and maintaining a competitive advantage — no matter what business you’re in.

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 strategic planning in the palm of your hand. For small businesses that can’t afford to hire strategic planning consultants, it’s even more imperative. Careful, constant planning is the only way to handle an uncertain business future. With this book, you’ll have all the step-by-step guidance you need to ensure you’re ready for anything that comes.

Back Cover Copy
Define your company's mission, vision, and values

Develop and execute your strategic plan for solid business growth

Need help setting a vision for your business or planning for an uncertain future? Don't worry! Strategic Planning For Dummies shows you how to build and sustain a competitive edge, analyze markets and trends, and plan for future growth. With this friendly guide to business planning, you will not fly blind into your company's future.

Discover how to

• Establish a step-by-step planning process
• Select a planning team
• Prioritize future opportunities
• Develop solid strategies
• Execute your plan

Reader Reviews
I am interested in learning the nuts and bolts of strategic planning to better apply my company's strategy management software for our customers. This book appears to have received 8 glowing reviews. Funny thing, though: those reviewers who state their location are from Reno NV or other NV locations. The others do not give their location. Looking at the author's profile, she is located in Reno NV. Is that a coincidence or are these "seeded" reviews meant to pump up the book? To be fair, I have not read the book, nor will I give it a bad rating for having clearly suspicious reviews. If I buy it and like it, I will adjust my rating accordingly.