As your startup grows, you’ll begin to plan further out.
One day, you’ll look out and realize dozens or even hundreds of people work at your startup. Whether they say it or not, they are looking to you to understand why their work matters, how they should focus their time and what you want them to accomplish.
The annual plan is a tool for communicating your expectations for the year ahead. Often, it will look something like this:
- Letter To Team
- Where We’ve Been
- Where We Are
- Where We’re Going
Letter To Team
Write a short note. Outline your excitement for the year ahead, give context on the plan and set expectations for your team. Showing some gratitude would be nice too.
Where We’ve Been
Quickly recap the year you’ve wrapped up. Why’d you start the company, what the team accomplished, and what you’ve learned. This is important, especially for folks new team members who may appreciate some historical context.
Where We Are
Outline the trends in your ecosystem. What are the tailwinds helping your business and the headwinds you may fact on your journey. You could use a framework such as Porter’s Five Forces or a SWOT analysis to talk about whats happening in your industry. Use this to set the stage for what is happening in the ecosystem around you.
Where We’re Going
This will be the meatiest section. You may wish to include the following sections:
- Summary 3 to 5 year vision
- Rally cry or theme for the year ahead
- Company goals, perhaps using a framework such as OKRs
- High-level financial plan or target
- High-level plans by team
- A “not to do” list
- An FAQ section
Of course, an annual plan isn’t write for everyone. In an uncertain environment, you may chose to operate with a rolling plan that looks 3 to 18 months out. In an environment requiring a longer term view, you may wish to consider a more detailed 3 year plan so that you aren’t short-sighted (e.g. underspend on marketing) or missing multi-year projects to achieve your vision.
Once you’ve set a vision, outlined goals and detailed plans, be sure you set a cadence and framework for monitoring your progress to that plan.
Lastly, the only thing you know about your plan is you won’t hit it. May be better, may be worse. Either way, documenting and communicating your plan is a critical skill to the set vision, rally your team, and invest resources in the year ahead.
Happy New Year.