Strategic planning is important at all stages of the business lifecycle, including:

1. Start-up.
2. Growth stage.
3. When seeking (additional) financing.
4. Mature/declining companies looking for innovative change.

Start-up

The first stage in starting any successful business is clearly defining your business idea: when most people think of business planning, they really mean initial planning. Obviously, it is a big decision to start a business. Focused and strategic planning is where the transition between a "good" concept and a viable business first takes place. Many good business ideas have failed before they could be put into action because of poor initial planning.

Taking the time to properly define your business concept, in terms of an opportunity you see in the market and a need for your product or service, will increase your chances of success and help guide your business in the right direction.

Initial planning is often associated with developing a Business Development Plan, or BDP, which is discussed further in this module. It is common for dramatic changes to occur in the business because of discoveries made in initial planning. You might realize that the timeline you have set for your business is unrealistic, or that a product must be altered to better fit the customers you wish to sell to. There are a number of things that will become clear only after you have begun the strategic planning process.