Skip to main content

Why internal business plans are essential to have

Internal business plans are essential for the success of any business. An internal business plan is similar to an external business plan in its overall structure. However, external business plans are designed to secure funding for a business and are presented to banks, investors, and other lending institutions. They contain high levels of detail about financial projections, customer demographics, growth strategies, and much more.

Internal business plans touch on many of the same points, but all the number crunching isn’t totally necessary. Your company’s internal business plan should be structured more as a reference document for employees. It’s different from an employee handbook because it’s not a procedural manual on work expectations.

Related Videos

An internal business plan is more of a guide on how the company will work together to achieve its goals. Your internal business plan should be an iterative document, meaning it changes and evolves as your company grows. It’s crucial to revisit these types of business plans frequently to ensure that it’s living up to its design. If not, changes must either be made to the internal business plan itself or the goals it’s trying to help achieve must be adjusted to become more attainable.

Three businesspeople looking at business plans

Internal Business Plan Must-Haves

Internal Business plans can have dozens of sections covering whatever topics you feel are vital for your company. However, here are some areas that are commonly covered in almost every internal business plan.

Mission and Vision Statements

Mission and vision statements are found in both external and internal business plans and many other company documents. The vision statement is the ultimate reason you have a business, and the mission statement is the actionable strategy it takes to be successful.

Specific and Attainable Goals

Business productivity can be measured by evaluating the goals outlined in your internal business plan. These goals should be clear, measurable, and broken down into different business segments. For example, what are your long-term marketing goals, and what are the short-term benchmarks your company must reach to achieve them? This is a prime example of why you must revisit internal business plans regularly. Each set of goals for every business segment should execute your mission and vision statements.

Strategies

The strategies portion of your internal business plan lists out a specific method to achieve the goals mentioned above and benchmarks. You should formulate customized strategies for every business segment. Although some goals may be the same, no two segment’s methods should be the same. For instance, your company’s sales strategy will not be the same as your customer service department. However, they may share goals like “a streamlined and overall enjoyable customer experience.”

Young man discussing market research

Systems and Processes

The systems and processes section of your internal business plan supports both the business goals and the strategy. Suppose you have hard-lined expectations of your leadership or other employees. It should be specified here. You could, for example, clarify that employee reviews by management will take place bi-annually.

This section can also list every role at the company and its scope of work. Internal operating systems and how departments should interact should also be made clear in this section. Much of this information would also be found in an employee handbook, but you can explain why a system or process exists in the internal business plan.

Final Thoughts

You can create many different business plans for your business, but an internal business plan is a cornerstone for how your company operates. Your internal business plan is a living document and should be reviewed regularly to ensure your company stays true to its original purpose. It’s essential to ensuring that things within the business stay consistent.

Suppose you find that your business isn’t living up to its goals in the internal plan. In that case, it’s better to examine why it’s not performing and try to fix that instead of drastically altering the original plan. It should be a barometer of success, and if you constantly change the plan, you have no standards to go by.

Factors such as changes in ownership, external market factors, and other business mergers or partnerships can be reasons for altering an internal business plan. However, the most successful companies always try to keep their initial vision and mission statements intact.

Editors' Recommendations

your employees will never lose their phone with these 5 products
iphone social networks app

Cell phones have become a necessity along with our wallets that we carry in our pockets or purses every single day. However, it can become a nuisance if you're constantly misplacing your cell phone along with your credit card or ID while at work. Luckily, there are top-rated cell phone holders that have been designed efficiently to combat these problems. Check out our recommendations for cell phone holders that provide multiuse which can help your employees keep track of their cell phone and important ID cards while at work.

To prevent your valuable items from going missing it's beneficial to have a product where you can keep track of your possessions while your employees are focused on other important work tasks. You’ll be glad you made the purchase of one of these top-rated cell phone accessories.

Read more
Items that you need for your electronic devices during work

We live in a modern society that relies on technology even more than ever before. We use cell phones, iPads, laptops, smartwatches, and computers. We are living in a virtual time that careers and schools are going remote and virtual. We use electronic devices to stay active, healthy, keep in touch, and go to important meetings. It is becoming an essential part of our daily lives for our careers and education. Children no longer have snow days and can have classes online. People no longer have to relocate themselves for a career instead they can work remotely from where they live.

Our electronic devices are what we use every day. People use electronic devices for work, school, time, and staying active. People can keep in touch with someone from the other side of the world. They rely on electronic devices so much that they cannot afford to lose them or for their devices to die. Electronic devices are how we submit projects, assignments, blogs, ideas, or job applications. They no longer have to go to an interview physically, but they can interview for their job in the comfort of your home. That is why we need electronic devices for our daily lives and careers.

Read more
Electronic devices needed in careers
Woman holding a tablet

We live in a modern society where people constantly rely on electronic devices. They need an electronic device for their daily life and contacts. Without electronic devices, people will not be able to contact others, attend school virtually, and work remotely. They even need an electronic device to advance their house to keep themselves secure and safe. Advance technology is adapting quickly in our modern society. Some devices can adapt to the electronics that they use daily in your life. They want chargers for batteries, replace dead batteries with new batteries, and technology for a current job. Modern society is constantly changing.

The five items listed above are devices that society cannot live without during the modern age. People need chargers for our cars, laptops, phones, and smartwatches. They need batteries for our cars, lights, and screened devices. Do you also know there are also electronic devices that can keep your home safe? They are motion detectors, so it is not only phones and smartwatches that we rely on in our daily lives. Cars are slowly becoming more electronic. They will no longer need gas if you use an electric hybrid car. There are charging stations for them now. You can run on electronic energy than gas. It is futuristic when you think about it.

Read more