What is the most important step of the Strategic Business Planning Process ?

In my opinion the pre start level. Which is collecting information...

1. Development of a mission, vision or purpose statement. It really does not matter what it is called, but this step is important perhaps more because of the process that the team will go through to develop it than the words that eventually end up on paper. In this step, the team is starting the process of focusing the organization and its people on what the organization is all about and what is important to the organization.