In today’s turbulent and competitive world, strategic planning plays an important role for the
success of firms. Despite the fact that there are literally numerous models proposed for different
companies in various states and structures, the possibility of using strategic planning for
startups has never been seriously considered. In this paper, we present a survey by asking
experts to find out whether strategic planning is suitable for startups. We also propose a model
for strategic planning in startups based on the strategic planning models for small businesses
and entrepreneurship concepts. The model is similar to other models and what differentiates
this models form other approaches is the methodology used for internal and external analysis
and the parameters taken into consideration. The proposed model is examined on an Iranian
food packaging industry for validation. The preliminary results indicate that the success of
startups depends on two sets of parameters: “entrepreneurial opportunities” and “competitive
advantages and entrepreneurial characteristics”.