To Plan, or not to Plan?
Business Plans are rubbish.
They take time and effort to produce, nobody takes any notice of them, and they never come to fruition. Well, that is an opinion that can be heard in some businesses.
It is an attitude that is surprising, since all businesses do plan, often in great detail, for most aspects of their activities. It is a matter of what they perceive as business planning, and their attitude to managing their future, both business and personal.
At its most basic, planning is an attempt to foresee the issues that will affect the future, then take steps to avoid problems, and seize opportunities. The larger and more complex the undertaking, the more important those steps will be. A one-person business may well survive without a business plan, but will be more likely to be met with the unexpected, and be unprepared to seize chances when they appear. However, that one-person business may be driven by someone who has an intense vision of their future, who has everything about the business at their finger tips, knows exactly where they are going, and how to get there. That really is a business plan.
There are people who succeed in that way, and go on to great things. It is certain that as they progress, others working with them will have to interpret the drive and vision of the founder in order to enable a larger organisation to carry it forward.
The other side of the coin is the frequent failure of businesses that have no plan, and are overtaken by unexpected events. “To fail to plan is to plan to fail” is a well worn but very true dictum.
What all businesses need is for the owners to have a clearly agreed vision of their future, plus compatible aspirations and long term goals. From that point, a strategy can be developed to reach those goals, a motivated team created and the strategy implemented with determination. The implementation plan should be clear enough to be easily memorised, and be reviewed at least every month. Plans are what they are – a considered method of reaching the organisation’s goals. They will not be perfect, but they provide the base from which deviations can be judged and corrected. They will also have contingencies to cater for setbacks, and resource to grab opportunities.
Wise business owners will need no persuasion about planning. They will
understand the same points about their personal lives and wealth. Directorpower is firmly in the “To Plan” camp and works with ambitious business owners to build their businesses and personal wealth. Learn about our “Strategy for Success” processes that will clarify your goals, and let you assemble your own building blocks for the business and the life that you want. It will be your plan. You will be in control.