Small businesses play an important role in the development of a country and serve as a means to sustain and grow economies because small businesses contribute to lowering unemployment as well as generate new sources of employment. The small business mortality indices, however, are very high. The survival of small businesses has become a strategic factor in the economies of developed and developing countries. Research has demonstrated a lack of strategic planning to be a key reason for business failure. Strategic planning is considered a key tool for business success. Small businesses owners in Mexico using strategic planning may predict environmental turbulence factors that inhibit business performance. For Mexican small businesses, predicting and managing the factors may reduce the mortality indices. The purpose of this quantitative correlation study was to determine the degree to which the strategic planning levels and the implementation process impact small business success measured in terms of business sales and employees growth. The sample consisted of 235 small business owners, executives, and managers from the city of Torreon, Mexico. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were performed to analyze the degree to which a relationship existed between the planning levels and the implementation process with the business success. Results registered a statistically significant relationship between the strategic planning levels and the planning implementation with the business success measured in sales increase. Recommendations for leadership include to analyze the impact of the private, educational and government leadership on the success of the planning development process and in its implementation and to analyze other factors than inhibit small business growth.