Many people ask The Joy of Business to put together a business
plan for them. This might be because they have to give one to
the bank or an investor, or because they want to work out if
a new business will work. But a lot of people who are already
in business don't bother to do a business plan because they're
too busy running their business. I think that part of the reason
for this is that business advisors like me have made the whole
business planning area too complicated. Unfortunately that means
that lots of entrepreneurs are setting out on a journey without
even looking at a map. So, for those of you too busy to write
a business plan, here is a 5 minute version to make sure you
don't get lost en route.
Where you want to go
Most of us have some sort of to do list, which is great,
but it's very easy to get caught up in the every day things
that need to be done, without concentrating on the things
that are important for your business.
The most important part of a business plan are the objectives. You need to work out what you're trying to achieve here.
Your objectives might be:
- bring in new customers - and how many new customers do
you need, and by when?
- improve customer service levels
- Get a better profit margin
- Be able to work 4 days a week instead of 5
Write down these objectives - go on, do it now; it only takes
5 minutes!
How to get there
The next thing to do is to work out what you need to do to
realise your objectives. If you need to bring in new customers,
do you need to get on with that promotion that you've been
thinking about? Or do you need to get in touch with Julia
Chanteray at The Joy of Business for some help in working
out a structured referral plan?
Then look back at your usual things to do list, and see
what has suddenly become less important now you know what
the priorities are. Activities that lead directly to meeting
your objectives are always going to be the most important
things to do in the long term, as long as you don't take your
eyes off the ball and start neglecting your customers.
5 minutes every week
I guarantee you that if you spend 5 minutes on your "business
plan" every week, then you'll be better focussed and
more effective in everything that you do.
Julia Chanteray
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