Business Planning
Learning from mistakes is good but avoiding them is better!
Despite the advent of sat nav, you wouldn’t set off on a journey without a bit of a plan. Successful businesses make plans and regularly stop to check they are going in the right direction. By doing this, they can make corrections to make sure they get to the desired destination.
We can help you to make a great plan to reach your business ambition. We can then help you turn the plan into action, help you measure progress and advise on any changes that may be required to achieve your plan.
Why plan?
The process of actually developing a business plan is just as valuable as the result. It forces you to ask key strategic questions as a team that might not otherwise happen.
Without a plan you could collectively put in lots of hard work climbing the ladder only to find it was against the wrong wall!
Making a plan requires you to take a helicopter view of your business examining your market, customers & competitors. The result is a statement of how the business will thrive in opportunity and deal with likely counter threats given some external factors.
An often-overlooked benefit of doing this as a team is that those involved gain a sense of ownership for the plan and will often commit more to its success. The plan gives the whole team a clear vision and set of measurable goals.
How?
Question, question and question again. Spending time in the planning stage means that you can ask questions of the business and the team and analyse the answers before you have committed to anything. The plan needs to analyse the external environment in which the business operates and develop how the business should respond.
For it to be most useful, the process should be honest even if this risks bruising egos and this is where an experienced “outsider” can add great value to the process. They provide an impartial view, and ensure the business delivers the agreed actions.
The plan needs to be clear, simple and achievable.
Make it action-based and follow it through.