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A road map to your
destination.
So you
know where you want your business to go - but which route do you take
to get there?
Business
planning
Of the various small businesses I had had the privilege of working with
over
the past 12 months, only one had a
business plan at all. That
is
really a very small
percentage. Which indicates the minimal
importance that business owners attribute to having a road map
to
success - or put differently, how much more important it is to deal
with that immediate
crisis with customer X and that problem with the
workshop or countless other operational issues
that inundate us on a daily basis.
So there is little
time
to
map the road ahead, and so little chance to see if we're on
track. And can we be certain that without a road map we will
ensure that we move from A-Z? That we will not get lost along the way
resolving Mrs H's problem with her delivery and Mr G's warranty claim
and....
"What is a
business plan?" I hear you ask. "I've compiled one for my bank manager
when we applied for a loan, and we're not doing that now. Things have changed."
Business plans may serve different
purposes. These could be to:
- Motivate a loan from a bank.
- Sell a business.
- Obtain a partner or investor.
- Test the viability of a business idea.
- Help you select between alternative projects,
contracts, investment, R&D opportunities.
- Buy a business.
- Guide you and your management team over the next period.
Which is the one YOU want to do?
Ideally, if you compile a business plan to guide you and your management
team over the next period you will probably also achieve
all the rest too!
But this
must be a serious attempt. As with any
plan - if you do not:
- have well
defined tasks with real achievable results and outputs,
or
- have the will
to see it through through. Have capable people
willing to be held accountable
allocated to to
the various tasks, or
- the control
methods to monitor progress and deviations, or
- completion
dates, and possibly incentives for
beating these;
... then you are in all likelihood compiling a plan merely as an academic exercise.
As with a strategy plan, the best business
plan is one that is actually used. To be used,
it must be:
- Concise
- Believable
- Complete
- Understandable
(in the language of YOUR business, not the bank's, or the consultant's,
or the auditor's although they are also important stakeholders.
In addition it must be honest - have integrity. Don't lie -
neither to yourself nor to others.
If you would like
straightforward assistance from one of our
experienced business support professionals, then click here.
They will
take your through a sound process, and assist you
every
step of the way. As experienced businessman themselves, they
have
been through this process numerous times and have learned all the
pitfalls. Their past experiences can be of benefit to you and
your management team. To have the benefit of their experience
click here.
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