Who Should Be Involved in Business Planning?

Managers

The ultimate responsibility for executing a corporate strategic plan will fall on the shoulders of your departmental managers. Production rate and quality will be the responsibility of your production manager, while getting the products out to distribution will be the task of your logistics managers. These company managers are experts in their jobs, and that kind of insight is invaluable to creating a good business plan. When you are in the starting phases of creating a business plan, develop a list of all managers who will be affected by the plan and include them in the planning process.

Your business has investors and lenders that it deals with on a regular basis. When you start to put together a new corporate plan, the funding of that plan will determine its scope and success. If you develop a plan and then cannot get the funding for it, then the plan will be discarded. Get your financial sources on board in the planning process early. Have estimates on how much capital you will need to complete your plan and be ready to discuss finances before you proceed with the detailed development of your plan.

Product manufacturers rely on distribution partners to get products to the retail outlets where clients can purchase them. Service providers that operate in a regional setting or larger area need service partners to provide coverage to all of its customers. Your product or service distribution outlets can determine how successful your business plan will be. You may need to add more distribution, or the technical nature of your business plan may force you to limit distribution to only a handful of outlets. In order to understand how your distribution network will affect your business plan, it's necessary to get all of your network partners involved in your planning.

The common goal of a business plan is to generate more revenue. That revenue increase may come in the form of a geographic expansion, the launch of a new product or targeting of a new buying audience. You can increase your chances of success by getting your customers' input into your business plans. Conduct market research that captures customer responses to questions that may come up in your business plan. For example, if you plan on marketing to a new age group, then bring together a reference group made up of members from that age range and ask them what they think of your product. Avoid releasing details that can compromise your plan, but find out if the customers will make your plan a success or not.