Every Business Needs a Plan

  Create a Blueprint for Growth

By Jeri T Denniston, Chief Marketing Strategist

Every business needs a plan. Below I outline the 10 steps needed to create a business plan. These are based on both our coaching process working with clients and on Michael Gerber’s book, E-Myth Mastery, available on Amazon. Without a plan as your blueprint for growth, it’s easy to get side-tracked by day-to-day emergencies and tasks. The key is to work ON your business at the same time you are working IN your business.

We suggest starting with a 3-to-5-year strategic plan and building your annual business plan(s) under that. However, if you’re looking for additional capital or seeking investors, most investors expect to see a 3-year business plan. In his book, E-Myth Mastery, Michael Gerber describes “The Business Plan That Always Works”.

He suggests, starting with a “heart-felt” planning process, with what’s important to you, the business owner. Whatever you’re creating has to be something you feel passionately about. This is equivalent to what Simon Sinek calls “your WHY” in his book, Start With Why. His premise is that “people don’t do business with you because of what you do; they do business with you because of Why you do it”. The why is your cause or your passion. Being able to articulate this simply helps others align with that passion or cause and want to support it and share it.

Once you identify this passion or cause, document it in your plan. Otherwise, if there is no passion, it’s just another plan that probably won’t be used. As you build your plan and try to forecast your numbers, you’ll have to use educated guesswork because it’s hard to predict the future. But with the right research into areas that may impact your company’s direction, you can have a fairly good idea of the changes that may be ahead and how your business might perform.

Build Change Into The Plan

One key component is to build change into the business plan. Your plan is not a rigid document that once completed, sits on a shelf somewhere. Look at it as a framework for your business growth. Put all the elements in a 3-ring binder that can be updated regularly. Once you’ve written your plan, set a time to review it with your team (if you have one), or by yourself, or with a business advisor, on a monthly or at least a quarterly basis. This will keep it current. If opportunities arise that aren’t in the plan, add them to the plan and pursue them…provided they make sense for the business and will help get you to your future goals.

If you have staff, include them in the process. Everyone must have ownership of their piece of the plan. That generates buy-in and commitment when you implement the plan going forward.

You can either do this by hand, writing the plan out longhand or using a Word document on your computer. Another option is to use an online business planning tool such as LivePlan which we make available to our coaching clients while we work with them on their plan. The final plan can be downloaded as a Word or PDF document so you have it to refer to and amend as you progress through the year. Below are the steps to produce your business plan.

10 Steps for Producing Your Business Plan

1. Create A Mental Picture Of Your Business Plan’s Impact. What would it feel like to have your plan work? Picture it in your mind. Imagine that this future concept has already happened. What words describe what you’ve already accomplished at that future date? Better yet, gather images that reflect this “dream” and put them on paper to create a visual of your future.
   
   
2. Outline Your Business Plan. This becomes the table of contents for your plan to help you organize the elements. In our coaching business, we use a 5-step process that includes answering the following questions:
   A. Where do I want to be (by a specific date in the future; this includes your vision,     mission, and values)
   B. How will I know when I get there? (specific goals to accomplish: financial, customer, employee, and community/social)
   C. Where am I now? (your current state or SWOT)
   D. How will I get there? (your specific strategies and actions to achieve your goals)
   E. What may be different by that future date that could impact my plan? (We use a template called the SKEPTIC for this – see the image)
   
   
   
   
   
3. Prepare Your Business Plan Binder. Assemble everything in a three-ring binder with tabs for each section. This allows you to change the plan as you go along. Using a binder may seem old-school but it keeps the plan handy and easy to find so you can refer to it frequently as you progress toward your goals. If you store it digitally on your computer, it may get lost among the other files and forgotten.
   
   
4. Gather Materials You Already Have. If you’ve been in business awhile, you should have a fair amount of documentation (financials, marketing and customer data, product information, etc.). Decide if each piece is complete as is, or needs to be revised, and put it in this section.
   
   
5. Identify What You Need To Produce. Also include who needs to provide the products or services and where to get the materials and resources. What raw materials do you need regularly and who are your vendors?
   
   
6. Conduct a Planning Meeting. Gather your executive team (or if you’re a small business, your team leaders or all your staff) and enroll them in the process. If you’re a solopreneur, set aside a few hours to focus on this without any distractions. If you have a business coach or advisor, schedule time with them to assist you with the planning process. Paint the picture of what you’re trying to create, and ask for their help and support. Listen to what they say. End the meeting with a clear understanding of who will do what and by when.
   
   
7. Prepare, Review, and Revise Materials. This is the tactical part of the plan. Review each piece of information your team provides to ensure it is relevant and that each piece works together with the other pieces to achieve the future vision. If they need further analysis or revision, send the materials back to the teams or individuals for revision and review them again.
   
   
8. Produce the “Final” Plan. Put it all together and give your plan a polished, easy-to-read appearance. Reduce it down to a two-sided, one-page document that each person can have handy as a reminder of what the business is trying to accomplish. This is a challenge, but well worth doing. It provides a cheat sheet of the most important aspects of the plan: your vision, mission and values, your specific goals for the first year, and the key tasks to accomplish to achieve those goals.
   
   
9. Create a Change Mechanism. Set follow-up meetings on everyone’s calendar to review the plan and make necessary changes as you go along. This is critical to ensuring that you can adapt to change as it occurs and keep your business on course.
   
   
10. Celebrate. You did it! Go ahead and celebrate having taken the time to prepare your business plan and get others enrolled in the vision for your business. Keep the plan handy so you refer to it frequently to stay on track.

Good luck! If you have questions or need assistance, please contact me by scheduling a no-obligation call using my Google Calendar link.