Introduction

A strategic plan is a comprehensive and long-term document that sets out the vision of an organization, its mission or purpose, and the way forward. It should be written in a way that makes it easy for everyone to understand, including members within the organization who have no formal background in business or finance.

Core Values

When you're creating a strategic plan, it's important to consider your core values. These are the principles that guide your business, and they can be used to build anything else you do.

If you have a strong sense of your core values, then you can create a vision for the future that's rooted in those values. The key is to make sure that your vision aligns with who you are as an individual and as an organization—it should be something that inspires and motivates people to work hard and succeed.

Creating a mission statement or core values statement is an excellent way to start thinking about this process. You may also want to use tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or DISC personality assessments to get a better sense of what drives each member of your team and what kinds of activities will help them reach their full potential.

Vision

Think of a vision statement as what your dental practice looks like in an ideal situation. What would your practice be doing if you were operating in an industry with no risks or challenges.? What goal do you want your dental practice to accomplish that seems far-fetched, but still can be achieved? These are big questions, yet the vision statement is important to the strategic planning, because it tells you and your team the direction your practice, is headed in.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the metrics you will use to measure progress. They should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound).  Monitors will help you understand where the business is during different points in time. And help? You make important decisions and areas that need improvement.

As a rule of thumb, KPIs should be aligned with your business goals, and they should be measurable in the short term.

Goals

Goals should be SMART:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable (or actionable)
• Relevant to your mission and values.

Strategy and Tactics

Strategy is about the what, tactics are about the how. In other words, strategy is a broad plan that defines your focus, direction and goals for your organization. Tactics are specific actions you take to achieve these goals. For example, if your strategic goal was to increase sales by 10% over the next year then one tactic would be to offer free shipping on all purchases over $100 (or whatever number works best for your business).

Roadmap and Milestones

A roadmap is a detailed plan for the future. The roadmap should include milestones, which are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound targets. These milestones are steps along the way to achieving your goals.

For example:

• If your goal is to increase sales by 20% in one year then one of your milestones could be "Increase website traffic by 10%". This would then allow you to monitor progress and adjust accordingly if needed in order achieve your overall goal.

Takeaway:

• Takeaway: A strategic plan is a road map for achieving your organization's goals.
• Takeaway: A strategic plan is a document that outlines the goals of an organization and how they will be achieved, along with other important information such as budgets, timelines and more.
• Takeaway: Your takeaway from this section should be that a strategic plan is a document that outlines the goals of an organization and how they will be achieved, along with other important information such as budgets, timelines and more.

Conclusion

A strategic plan is a document that outlines the goals, objectives and action items of an organization. It helps you to clarify your vision and mission as well as identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring success along with strategies to achieve those goals.