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”.

Mazdeh, M., Moradi, K & Mazdeh, H. (2011). Strategic planning model for Startups: A case study of Iranian packaging industry.Management Science Letters, 1(2), 157-166.

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