A strategic plan example is a finished plan for a specific organization, showing the diagnosis, the choices made and the measures used to track them. The plan itself is owned by the chief executive and agreed with the board and the leadership team.
A complete strategic plan for a fictional organization: workforce scheduling software company serving shift-based employers in healthcare, retail and hospitality.
| Organization | Workforce scheduling software company serving shift-based employers in healthcare, retail and hospitality (450 staff) |
|---|---|
| Ambition | Become the scheduling system of record for healthcare employers, reaching $120 million in annual recurring revenue and a 10% operating margin by the end of 2029 without raising more capital. |
| Horizon | 3 years |
Annual recurring revenue is $78 million from 3,900 customers, but growth has slowed from 34% to 19% in two years. Small hospitality and retail businesses make up 3,300 customers and $34 million of ARR, and only 79% of that revenue renews each year as payroll suites bundle basic scheduling at no charge. Healthcare is different: 140 hospital groups and care providers account for $22 million, growing 41% with 96% gross retention, because their staffing rules are too complex for a bundled tool. Net revenue retention is 101%, operating margin is minus 9%, and there is $41 million in cash.
Challenges| Mission | Put the right person on every shift, so employers meet their obligations and shift workers get schedules they can plan a life around. |
|---|---|
| Vision | By 2029, one in five hospital shifts in our home market is scheduled on our platform, and the company funds its own growth. |
| Values | Build for the person working the shift. Be exact about rules: a schedule that breaks a labor agreement is a defect. Spend the company's money as if cash were short. Say no clearly and early. |
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 96% gross retention and 41% growth in healthcare | Engine slows sharply above 2,000 staff per site | Hospitals replacing spreadsheets and legacy rostering after years of agency staffing costs | Payroll suites giving basic scheduling away to small employers |
| Rules library covering 60 union agreements and state overtime laws | Small-business revenue renews at 79% | Hospital customers asking for staffing ratio compliance reporting | Hospital record system vendors adding scheduling modules |
| Mobile app used weekly by 84% of scheduled staff | Only 9% of customers above 250 staff buy the forecasting and compliance add-on | Existing mid-market customers lack demand forecasting | Longer hospital procurement cycles as budgets tighten |
| $41 million in cash and no debt | Healthcare go-live takes 120 days on average | Nine large hospital groups willing to act as references | Competition for engineers who know constraint solvers |
| Priority | Investment | Lead team |
|---|---|---|
| Become the standard for hospital staff scheduling | 14 sales, solutions and clinical workflow hires, reaching $4.5 million a year by 2028 | Sales and the healthcare product group |
| Grow revenue from the customers we keep | Customer success grows from 31 to 40 people, funded by closing the 22-person small-business outbound team | Customer success |
| Rebuild the engine for 10,000-person employers | 45 of 140 engineers for 18 months, plus $1.2 million in extra cloud cost during migration | Engineering |
| Pay for growth from operations | No net new headcount outside healthcare and engineering; total staff held under 480 | Finance |
Priorities and measures
Healthcare is 28% of ARR but produces most of the growth and almost none of the churn. It is the one segment where rule complexity keeps bundled competitors out.
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Healthcare annual recurring revenueMilestones: $31M by Q4 2027 · $44M by Q4 2028 | $22M | $62M | Q4 2029 |
| Win rate in competitive healthcare dealsMilestones: 28% by Q4 2027 · 32% by Q4 2028 | 24% | 36% | Q4 2029 |
| Reference customers with more than 2,000 scheduled staffMilestones: 18 customers by Q4 2027 · 28 customers by Q4 2028 | 9 customers | 40 customers | Q4 2029 |
Net revenue retention of 101% means almost all growth has to come from new logos at a 26-month payback. Mid-market customers already ask for forecasting; few have been offered it.
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net revenue retentionMilestones: 104% by Q4 2027 · 108% by Q4 2028 | 101% | 112% | Q4 2029 |
| Gross revenue retentionMilestones: 88.5% by Q4 2027 · 90.5% by Q4 2028 | 87% | 92% | Q4 2029 |
| Customers above 250 staff using the forecasting and compliance add-onMilestones: 18% by Q4 2027 · 29% by Q4 2028 | 9% | 40% | Q4 2029 |
Large hospital groups judge the product on how fast it produces a compliant schedule. Today each big deployment pulls engineers into custom rule work, which slows both the sale and the roadmap.
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to generate a four-week schedule for 5,000 staffMilestones: 8 minutes by Q4 2027 · 4 minutes by Q4 2028 | 14 minutes | 2 minutes | Q4 2029 |
| Average time to go live for a new healthcare customerMilestones: 100 days by Q4 2027 · 80 days by Q4 2028 | 120 days | 60 days | Q4 2029 |
| Engineering time spent on new capabilityMilestones: 45% by Q4 2027 · 53% by Q4 2028 | 38% | 60% | Q4 2029 |
The plan assumes no further fundraising. Cash has to come from spending less to win and serve small customers, not from slowing healthcare investment.
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating marginMilestones: -4% by Q4 2027 · 3% by Q4 2028 | -9% | 10% | Q4 2029 |
| Payback period on customer acquisition costMilestones: 23 months by Q4 2027 · 20 months by Q4 2028 | 26 months | 17 months | Q4 2029 |
| Small-business customers who sign up and go live without staff helpMilestones: 55% by Q4 2027 · 75% by Q4 2028 | 30% | 90% | Q4 2029 |
The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.
| Organization | [Describe your organization in a few words, with its size] |
|---|---|
| Ambition | [One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan] |
| Horizon | [How long the plan runs, for example 12 months] |
[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]
Challenges| Mission | [Your mission] |
|---|---|
| Vision | [Your vision] |
| Values | [Your values] |
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Strengths] | [Weaknesses] | [Opportunities] | [Threats] |
| [Strengths] | [Weaknesses] | [Opportunities] | [Threats] |
| [Strengths] | [Weaknesses] | [Opportunities] | [Threats] |
| Priority | Investment | Lead team |
|---|---|---|
| [Priority] | [Investment] | [Lead team] |
| [Priority] | [Investment] | [Lead team] |
| [Priority] | [Investment] | [Lead team] |
Priorities and measures
[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]
| Outcome | Baseline | Target | Due |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
| [Metric you will track] | [Where it is today] | [Where it should be] | [When] |
Read the example for its level of detail, not its content. Notice that every claim in the situation has a number and every priority traces back to a challenge.
Split your own results by segment before writing anything. A blended growth or retention figure often hides one segment worth doubling and one worth shrinking.
Write the choices as sentences a competitor could reasonably disagree with. If every company in your market would sign them, they are not choices.
Borrow the structure of the outcomes: one metric, a baseline measured today, a target and a milestone for each year in between.
Check the resourcing against the income statement. The people and money in the table should add up to something the finance lead recognizes.
A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.
| Check-in | Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly. |
|---|---|
| Review | Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly. |
| Reset | Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly. |
Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.
Track this plan in TabilityStill comparing tools? See the 10 best strategy software tools.
A good example is specific to one organization and makes choices that another organization might reject. It contains a diagnosis with numbers, a short list of things the organization will not do, three to five priorities with named owners, and outcomes with a baseline, a target and yearly milestones. It should fit on a few pages.
Detailed enough that a new executive could read it and know what to stop, start and fund. That usually means one page of context, one page of choices and resourcing, and a page of priorities with measures. Project plans, budgets by cost center and quarterly targets belong in the operating plan that follows.
Name a result, not an activity, and give it a unit, a baseline measured today, a target and a date. For a multi-year plan, add a milestone for each year so progress can be judged early. Net revenue retention from 101% to 112% is an outcome. Launching an add-on is the initiative that moves it.
A strategic plan sets direction and priorities for three to five years. An operating plan turns the first year of it into budgets, headcount, quarterly targets and projects for each team. The strategic plan should change rarely; the operating plan is rewritten every year and adjusted each quarter.
Yes, the format works for any organization. Mission, diagnosis, choices, priorities and measures apply equally to a charity, a school or a city department. What changes is the content: outcomes are expressed in terms of people served or results achieved for them, and the resourcing section deals with funding sources and restrictions as well as budget.
A strategic plan sets out where an organization is heading over the next three to five years, the few priorities that will get it there, and how progress will be measured.
A corporate strategy decides which businesses a group should own, how capital is divided between them, and what the center does to make each one stronger.
A business strategy explains how one company will compete: which customers it serves, what it offers them, and why it will win against the alternatives.
A growth strategy names the markets, products and channels a business will rely on to grow, and the numbers that show whether each bet is working.
A 5 year strategic plan sets the few long-range priorities an organization will fund and the yearly milestones that show whether those priorities are on track.
A nonprofit strategic plan sets out how an organization will advance its mission over the next three to five years, which programs it will grow or end, and how the work will be paid for.
A balanced scorecard translates a strategy into a small set of objectives and measures across four perspectives: financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth.
A strategy map is a one-page diagram that shows how an organization's objectives connect, from the people and technology at the base to the financial or mission result at the top.
A marketing strategy names the customers a business most wants to win, how it wants to be understood by them, and where the budget goes to turn that attention into revenue.
A content strategy sets out who your content is for, the topics you want to be known for, and how each piece is produced, distributed and measured.
A content marketing strategy explains how published content will attract a defined group of buyers and move them, stage by stage, toward becoming customers.
A social media strategy sets out which platforms a brand will use, what it will publish on each, how it will respond to its community and how that activity supports business goals.
An SEO strategy sets out which searches a site should be found for and the technical, content and authority work needed to rank for them.
A digital marketing strategy coordinates search, paid media, email, social and the website around one audience and one set of commercial goals.
An email marketing strategy sets out who is on the list, which campaigns and automated flows each group receives, and how the list is grown and kept healthy.
A brand strategy sets out what a brand stands for, who it is for, and how it should look, sound and behave so that people choose it over the alternatives.
A product marketing strategy sets out who a product is for, how it is positioned against the alternatives, how it is priced and packaged, and how sales and marketing will take it to buyers.
A go-to-market strategy sets out how a product reaches its customers: the target market, the value proposition, pricing, the routes to market and the phases of the launch.
An account-based marketing strategy sets out which named accounts marketing and sales will pursue together, how those accounts are tiered, who in each must be reached, and the coordinated plays used to reach them.
A PPC strategy sets how paid search and paid social budget is spent: which campaigns run, who they target, what counts as a conversion and the cost per result the account must hit.
An event marketing strategy decides which events a business hosts or attends, what each one must deliver, how the budget is divided and how leads are followed up afterwards.
A PR strategy sets out the story an organization wants told, the audiences and outlets that matter, who speaks for it and how coverage will be earned and defended over the year.
A communication strategy defines what an organization needs its audiences to know, feel and do, and the messages, channels and timing that will get them there.
An influencer marketing strategy sets which creators a brand works with, how they are chosen, briefed and paid, what rights the brand has to their content and how results are measured.
A sales strategy states which accounts the team will pursue, how it will cover and win them, and the pipeline, conversion and quota math that add up to the revenue target.
A sales enablement strategy sets out the skills, content, tools and coaching sellers need to win, the programs that will provide them, and the sales results that show whether it worked.
An account strategy is the plan for one key customer: what they are trying to achieve, who decides, where the supplier can grow, what could go wrong, and the results expected over the coming year.
A customer engagement strategy sets out how a business stays useful to customers after the sale: how they are segmented, what happens at each lifecycle stage, which signals show health or risk, and how the team responds.
A customer experience strategy describes the experience a business intends to deliver across the whole customer journey, where today's experience falls short, and the changes, owners and measures that will close the gap.
A fundraising strategy sets how much an organization needs to raise, which income streams and donors it will come from, and how supporters will be found, asked, thanked and kept.
A product strategy states who the product is for, which problems it will solve first, and why customers will choose it over the alternatives.
An IT strategy sets out which technology investments an organization will make over the next two to three years, in what order, and how they support its business goals.
An AI strategy sets out where an organization will apply artificial intelligence first, the data, platforms and skills those uses depend on, and the rules that keep them safe and lawful.
A data strategy sets out which decisions an organization most needs data to support, and how data will be collected, governed and made available so that people trust it.
A cloud strategy sets out which workloads an organization will move to the cloud, in what order and on which platforms, and how security and cost will be controlled along the way.
A digital transformation strategy explains why an organization needs to change how it delivers services and runs its operations, which few areas it will change first, and in what order.
A knowledge management strategy sets out which knowledge an organization depends on, how it is captured and kept current, and how people find and reuse it in their work.
An HR strategy sets out what the business plan requires from the workforce and how the organization will hire, develop, pay and keep the people needed to deliver it.
A recruitment strategy sets out how many people an organization needs to hire and when, where it will find them, and how it will select and win the ones it wants.
A talent management strategy sets out which roles the organization cannot run without, how successors for them are identified and developed, and how the people in them are kept.
A compensation strategy sets out what the organization pays for, where it positions pay against the market, how pay is structured across levels, and how decisions are checked for fairness.
A change management strategy sets out who is affected by a change, how ready they are, and how they will be informed, trained and supported until the new way of working is routine.
Reach $118 million in recurring revenue and positive free cash flow by the end of 2028 by keeping, and growing with, the contractors we already serve.
Earn an 11% return on tangible common equity by FY29 by becoming the primary bank for more of the households and businesses we already serve.
Be known as a year-round hunger relief network that needs funds and public support more than cans, and make sure partners and staff hear our decisions from us first.
Make content the main source of agency trials and the reason those trials activate, so content-sourced signups add $19,000 in new monthly recurring revenue each month by the end of 2027.
Fill our classes, recruit and keep enough tutors to shorten the waiting list, and turn one-time donors into regular givers, using content a two-person team can sustain.
Move the content team from covering the sport to helping riders choose, fit and maintain what they buy, lifting product page conversion and repeat orders while cutting returns for fit.
Make email the place where an adoption, a first gift or a foster inquiry turns into lasting support, raising $500,000 a year with far less riding on December.
Complete the $90M campaign for the cancer and surgery pavilion by fiscal 2029, with grateful patients and their families becoming our largest source of new major donors.
Raise $13M a year in private support by fiscal 2029, half of it unrestricted, so that public contracts no longer drain the operating reserve.
Secure $60M toward a $125M scholarship campaign by fiscal 2029, lift annual gift income from $14.5M to $21M and bring alumni participation back to 21%.
Make our heat pump rooftop units the specified and stocked choice for planned replacements in three launch regions, growing the line from $38 million to $210 million by 2029.
Make the self-serve plan the default way small support teams start with us, reaching $2.6 million in recurring revenue and feeding the sales-led plan with accounts that have outgrown it.
Become a proven choice for fall prevention in regional health systems, with evidence from six hospitals, four system-wide contracts and $5.2 million in recurring revenue.
Reach $28 million in revenue with a first order that makes money, by winning full-price buyers and earning their second purchase within 90 days.
Be the first choice for joint, heart and maternity care across our nine counties, and spend marketing money only where a patient can be seen within two weeks.
Be the engagement platform that employers with frontline workforces choose first, and grow net revenue retention to 105% by selling the second product to customers we already have.
Be the field service product a contractor with 5 to 49 technicians can set up in two weeks and that technicians choose to use, taking net revenue retention from 97% to 104%.
Be the primary operating account for half of our small business customers by mid 2028, so the bank's cheapest deposits grow again.
Be the store where a home mechanic knows a part fits before buying it, and grow sales from $24M to $27M on the same paid traffic.
Reach $121M in sales in 2027 at a 28% gross margin by winning mid-size OEM programs and aftermarket volume, so the five largest customers fall to a third of revenue.
Close 2027 at $7.2M ARR by turning single locations that already pay us into group-wide rollouts on annual contracts, with a six-person sales team that never touches a single-site account.
Sell $142M of fees in 2027 with the same headcount by winning more of fewer pursuits and getting 60 key clients to buy from more than one practice.
Rank for the searches HR leaders make when they are choosing a hiring system, so organic search supplies qualified trials and new recurring revenue instead of job seeker traffic.
Be the firm a contractor, practice owner or restaurant group in our three metro areas finds first, and win 30 new business clients a year from search.
Have one strong page for every part and model family we sell, so organic search earns $6.3 million a month and growth no longer depends on raising paid spend.
Make social a dependable way for local families to find a clinician with room for them, and for nurses and medical assistants to find us, without a single privacy lapse.
Use social to fill every weekday warehouse shift, bring in monthly donors all year, and point neighbors who need food to the nearest open pantry.
Make social pay for itself on the first order, and make it the reason a first-time buyer comes back for a second piece.
Stay physician-owned by opening primary care to 11,000 more patients, earning the savings our risk contracts allow and filling our surgery center, lifting operating margin to 5% by 2029.
Be the supplier equipment makers trust with their hardest machined parts, growing revenue from $112 million to $138 million at a 12% EBITDA margin by the end of 2029 without adding a plant.
By June 2029, six in ten third graders read at grade level, chronic absence is cut by half, and the district lives within its funding with three full elementary schools.
A strategic plan sets out where an organization is heading over the next three to five years, the few priorities that will get it there, and how progress will be measured.
A corporate strategy decides which businesses a group should own, how capital is divided between them, and what the center does to make each one stronger.
A business strategy explains how one company will compete: which customers it serves, what it offers them, and why it will win against the alternatives.
Strategic plan template
Horizon: 3 years
4 priorities · 12 outcomes
Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.