Women-Owned Business
Business Strategy & Planning
The devil is in the details and recognizing the details starts with a plan...
It doesn't matter if you're talking about product development, marketing, or finance, all business strategies require answering a few basic questions:
We've put together a list of online and in-person resources to help you find the people, tools, and templates to help you develop a business plan and create a business strategy.
Some resources may have a cost, but they're all budget-friendly -- and most are free.
Success starts with a planCheck out these one-page planning templates to use for Business Planning and goal setting.
New 5-Year Strategic Planner
Business Canvas 2.1
Goal Planner
Status Check Canvas
Tools & Resources
Do you need help with planning? We've put together some of our favorite tools and tips to get you started. Don't forget, we also have open office hours every week. Visit our office hours page for dates and times.
Tools to jumpstart your planning
SWOT Analysis
Need a fast snapshot of a product or process?
The SWOT matrix is an old-school business tool for quickly reviewing a business product, idea, or status.
The standard matrix uses a basic 4-box grid with strengths and weaknesses on the top and opportunities and threats on the bottom.
There are many versions of this classic tool online, but the basic bare-bones version is all you need to take a quick snapshot of anything from sales & marketing, to product development, customer service, or even your company's billing process.
Articles
Looking for help with planning? Check out these articles from the Business Guild
In addition to website content, we have dozens of articles about business planning in Flackery, the Business Guild's quarterly business magazine.
National & Online Resources
US Small Business Administration
The US Small Business Administration (SBA) was founded as part of the Small Business Act of 1953 to provide "aid, counsel, assistance, etc., to small business concerns" so they could compete with larger corporations.
The idea was that with a little help, regular people could live the American dream of starting and owning a business and today's SBA has evolved to include a vast network of people, programs, and resources to help you take your business from your initial concept to startup, growth and every step in between.
The SBA also contracts with local and regional partners to provide almost every type of service or training that a small business owner could need.
America's Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
America's Small Business Development Center (SBDC) are a network of regional and local business development centers throughout the United States and US territories that "provide no-cost business consulting and low-cost training to new and existing businesses."
The national organization connects business owners to local and regional SBDC programs and partners to provide services to business owners.
To locate the Small Business Development Center for your region, please visit https://americassbdc.org/find-your-sbdc/
