Many of my clients tell me they are too busy doing business to plan their business. Big mistake. As my dear sweet old Granny used to say, if you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail. OK, she was no Richard Branson or Bill Gates but, believe me, she had her head screwed on.
Here is the important message. Without a carefully-considered and well-executed plan your business cannot be truly effective. Your business will drift aimlessly, with no real sense of direction or goals. Important tasks which need to be done on a regular basis, such as marketing or budgeting, aren’t done when they should be. Relationships with existing customers aren’t maintained and there is no plan to find new ones.
It may seem that everything is succeeding for a while but eventually it will grind to a halt and then suddenly crisis management is the only option. No one wants that but many people are forced into it.
So think carefully about what you want to achieve in your business, when you want to achieve it and what specific tasks will make sure you achieve it.
It is vital to set objectives with deadlines and make these realistic and achievable. The important point is to cover both the long and short term. Having a five year plan is great but make sure you build in goals for each year and, within that, tasks for each month. That way you can keep track of progress on a regular basis.
Flexibility is the other important factor. No one can really predict what will happen in five years’ time, or even in one year, so you must keep reviewing the plan and make adjustments as appropriate.
That doesn’t mean allowing deadlines to slip and coming up with another one at random which will also slip. If you don’t meet a deadline, just think about why that happened. It may be that you didn’t give yourself enough time, so build in more time in future. It may be that something unforeseen happened, something more urgent, more important. That will happen. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Just revise the plan and carry on.
Another good tip is to break down large tasks into smaller ones. Achieving a number of small tasks is easier and more satisfying than struggling with a large one and failing because you become de-motivated by the size of the challenge. Set a deadline for each of the smaller tasks and try to stick to it.
The best example I can give for breaking a large task into manageable chunks is the approach I take to completing my tax return. I hate doing it. I’ll come up with any excuse for not doing it, but ultimately it has to be done. Looking at the form fills me with despair, when I see how long it is and the fact that the Inland Revenue change the format every year just to annoy me. So what do I do? I set myself some deadlines to complete it in stages. One page a day until it is finished.
My final tip for making sure you achieve the goals in your plan is to tell someone you are going to do it. If you make yourself accountable to someone, you are more likely to succeed because you don’t want to be seen as a failure. Choose carefully who you tell. Don’t tell the cat. Or the paper boy. They won’t care whether you succeed or not. Tell someone you respect and someone who will give you a gentle reminder if you need one.
If you would like more information or help with writing and following a business plan just get in touch at contact@chriswilkie.co.uk
Thanks Chris. Very interesting and very true!
Yes, great article Chris. I think the idea of bite-size chunks is critical. Just like the answer to the ancient chninese proverb - 'How do you eat an elephant? - One bite at a time'.
Hi Chris, you are spot-on with the need to be prepared in today's fast-moving, electronic world! Does anybody know for sure, what will happen to them during any day? On the subject of the Inland Revenue Tax Return, every year I find it gets easier to complete thanks to electronic filing. Add information during the year, as it becomes available and when you are satisfied that it is complete, press the submit button!! Job done!