Planning for Success!

Having consulted to and coached hundreds of business leaders over the past 18 years I am constantly amazed at how many businesses don’t have a business plan or any plan for that matter. If they do have a plan it is held in the vault of the brain of the business owner. There is some loose map that the business owner is following, but in most cases businesses just bump along with the turbulence of the environment hoping to reach a destination that is desirable. If we are not clear about our destination then surely it will be hard to meet that destination.

We would not build a house without a plan? We go to the building site, meet the builder and suggest that we build a wall here, have a bathroom there and maybe we can put the kitchen over there. Can you imagine how the building would come out let alone the extra cost to build it, and this is the crux of the matter. When we don’t know where we are going it often costs us twice as much to find out. This is where a business plan comes in!

A business plan allows you to identify where it is that you want to end up and how you are going to end up there. Starting with your vision and mission and ending with a clear picture of the market, how to find them and encourage them to buy your product or service. There are many steps along this journey but all of them are aimed at providing you with more clarity and sense of purpose the most cost effective way possible. It is amazing to watch clients get into action once they have found a clear purpose for doing what they are doing.

So do you have a clear purpose? Are you excited to execute it every day? A business plan will allow you to identify a clear purpose, help you to ignite your passion for what you started to do and provide you with hope. These things will inevitably lead to a desire to take positive action to have your plan come true.

So start with a clear vision, set an inspiring mission, be clear about who your customers are, what they buy and off whom, why they buy and how you are going to differentiate yourself. Identify how you are going to position yourself in your market. Look at how you are going to inform these people of your product or service, what will inspire them to come and see you and how you are going to deliver it to them. Then make clear plans on direction, marketing, your finances, and inevitably your exit strategy. Yes, your exit strategy!

Most business owners don’t have a clear exit strategy. There is one thing we can be sure of in life and that is that everything is going to end. At some point in the future you are going to finish your business, whether that is selling it, closing it down or gifting it away to the next generation. How you design your business today can be influenced by the exit strategy that you have.

A business plan, regardless of how big it is and some of the best plans are the shortest most concise ones, will help you to find your way allowing you to make cost effective decisions. Clarity of purpose and identification of direction leads to a saving in time, money and nervous energy.

So create your dream, have a clear vision and give your business the best chance of success by developing a clear and concise business plan. Oh and if you need help give me a call!

Marcus is the winner of the Australian Moot Corp Business Planning awards and runner up in the international Moot Corp Business Planning Awards. He is the developer of the One Page Business Plan a dynamic and easy business planning tool kit for small businesses.