Business Plan, Eh?

Business Plan, Eh?

Ever hear the stories of people that started their business without a business plan, it was just an idea on a napkin?

Even worse, you heard successful business people say, “I never sat down and wrote a business plan.”

Both are true.

Many great companies have been started by brainstorming on a napkin or piece of scratch paper, some, and that’s a very few, some, even make it big and hand it down a generation, or sell while they are on top, without a plan.

The cold hard facts of trying to run a business without a written plan is about the same as me outrunning a horse.

NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

I’d like to provide a couple illustrations of how silly it is to put your income, your employees income, and worse yet, your investors income at risk, without a written business plan.

Picture a small, two seater airplane making a trip without their communication equipment working because they didn’t have time to change the fuse. Picture them coming out of the clouds after spending almost an hour without seeing the ground. Now the pilot turns to the passenger and says o.k., “where are we?”

The passenger says, “How am I supposed to know?”

The pilot says, “Check the map, you brought the navigational maps, didn’t you?”

“Oh Pucky, I thought you brought the maps, this one’s gonna leave a mark.”

How in the world, outside of guessing, are they going to find their destination.

Most businesses I run into under $5,000,000 a year in sales, fly around like a bat. They fly in one direction until they are about to hit something. As soon as they realize they were about to hit a wall, they change direction. They do this for years wondering why they aren’t growing.

Growing a business is usually very simple. Almost every time we sit with the management of a company, the management has great ideas for growth, yet they run the same volume, year in and year out.

I believe people have a disdain for sitting down and writing out a business plan because they think it’s going to be a total waste and once it’s done it’s going to sit on a shelf.

The reason they feel this way is because most business plans, once written, collect dust.

The planning I’m going to suggest here is a little different.

Stop what you are doing right now and right down a few things.

1. My companies 3 greatest strengths
2. Last years Gross Sales ( come on, be honest, nobody’s looking )
3. My companies 3 greatest weaknesses
4. What I want next years Gross Sales to be ( come on, dream a little, nobody’s watching )
5. List 3 completely different ways you can see your company hitting the desired gross sales

I said stop reading and start writing.  Write 1 thru 5 on a piece of paper and do the darn assignment.  Some say that a goal isn’t real until it’s written.  They say that you aren’t writing your goals and your business plans because you are afraid of success.  You aren’t afraid are you?

Come on, write these 5 things down.

Back to the topic.

Here’s some tips and tricks.

First–

You don’t have enough energy and time to turn weaknesses into strengths, so leave that one alone for this next year.

Second–

Looking specifically at your strengths, your first mission is to set in writing and set in motion that you and the people considered as part of your strengths, stay in that very position. Often, as a company grows, management splits up a strength and the energy and impetus is gone. To get even deeper on this topic, if you are the owner, or entrepreneur of the company, clear away any and all responsibilities of yours that do not directly affect Growth and delegate them out.

I promise you, it’ll be painful for only 2 days, when your ties are cut and you are running free toward the prize, it’s exhilarating.

Third–

Ask yourself not how can we do this, but who can help us.

Could it be college interns? Could it be partnering with other companies? Could it be your suppliers? There is always someone out there that can help you if they knew you needed help.

Fourth–

Break the growth into 4 quarters and grow incrementally. Set your targets and your sites on the first 90 day target and forget the rest of the year. Do whatever it takes to overshoot hitting that first target, and BE SURE to use 3 different growth strategies.

Fifth–

Study other Growth Strategies.

Is your website pulling appropriately. Have you done website diagnostics to see if it’s coming up as high as possible in Google and other search rankings. Do you have any local “Buzz” going on for your business. When is the last time you read the 1990′s book, “Guerilla Marketing” just to stay sharp. Do some homework, get back in the hunt.

Call a P.R. company for a free consultation of what they may do.

Sixth–

Attack and OVERSHOOT.

The first 90 days of a written business plan are critical. So much momentum is carried over, you simply can miss it.

Seventh–

Set some rewards up for all those who participate when you hit the targets. Do not reward failure or effort. Do not teach your folks to confuse activity with accomplishment.

Eighth–

Ask your key employees each for 3 ideas to grow the company.

Ninth–

Assign three different people to study 3 different competitors to find out how they are growing. Give your competitors a compliment by stealing some of their ideas.

Tenth–

After brainstorming the above 9 steps, put a 3 page MAXIMUM plan in writing for the whole company to see and begin attacking and celebrating because if you can do it once, you can do it again.

HAPPY  PLANNING.

-Ken
Growth Consulting for Today