“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Abraham Lincoln
If you watched a game of sport where there was no winner, try, goal or wicket it would be really boring! Running a business is similar, if we don’t keep score then it’s not as much fun as it should be. We need to be stimulated to keep our business enjoyable, and setting targets helps us measure our success.
A business plan will give you a sense of direction and goals, and hence enable you to monitor the achievement of those goals and objectives and adds to the excitement of running your business!
Why write a business plan?
A business plan serves many useful purposes:
- It helps you to crystallise and focus ideas.
- It provides a structure for your activity, both in the early years of a business and in taking an existing business
- By identifying and quantifying specific business objectives, it creates benchmarks against which you can measure progress.
- It provides a persuasive vehicle for attracting capital to help finance the business.
What’s important in a business plan?
All businesses should have a vision or outline of the business when it “is complete” and meeting the owner’s personal objectives. It should outline the key actions you need to take to reach your objectives or goals and a timeframe for completing these. Most importantly it should outline the key indicators of success (turnover, profitability and value) that you need to measure your success with.
What if?
The most successful businesses we work with all measure how they are doing towards their target. In addition, they ask the question “what if?” looking at the effects of volume, pricing and expense changes to their business so they know the financial effects of a decision before they take it!
If you are looking to inject some excitement into your business, talk to us about how we can help you set a target and install a system to measure your success!