How do you initially start strategic planning? Hiring a well educated and experiences person as strategy manager, or using a consulting firm?

I recommend to hire a person having experience in strategic planning or utilize the person within the organization having aptitude to creativity / out of box thinking etc.
These persons may deliver the good results then the consulting firm as the internal person knows more about the company working culture then the consulting firm.

I suggest that you start by learning what is strategic planning. Working with professionals will support your learning process.

Strategy management is the job of all the company department's managers and even by all the company's staff. You need to clearly communicate the company's strategy to all staff and to ensure the department's opertaions plans are aligned to the cmpnay's strategy.

Strategy implementation and tracking systems are used by most of the company's staff.

Hi, The first ones to see a problem or feel a need to change something about the organisation,are the top management itself.
Most of the times it is their experience which guides them going about a policy.
Hiring a person who can work within the vision and requirement of the organisation is recommended for small and medium sized organisations.
Strategic planning is not something you totally learn from B-schools.
You need to have a first hand experience of the situation and need to apply what you think is right for the situation.
It is a process which is learned the hard way through trail and error.
Someone who has gone through the 'baking' process in that industry is an ideal candidate for a job of a strategy manager.
I even think organisations should groom people within their own ranks to be strategy managers in the future in the company.
This is the most ideal and practical way of hiring or having a strategy manager.
In some large organisations or the medium-sized organisation,the internal strategy manager may not work out.
This could happen for a variety of reasons.One of them could be sheer myopic vision about the company.Restriction or vested interests which might hamper a strategic implementation of a process.
Here I think in this case an external consultant/strategy manager/consulting firm could provide a fresh perspective and might suggest a different approach to a problem.
The basic requirement of a consultancy firm to work is the willingness of the Management to adopt the proposed changes and be receptive and open minded.
After all the owners of the Business are the final authority on implementing a strategy.