A New Year and a New Plan

It's the start of a new year. With that come new ideas, new dreams, and a new outlook on goals. Resolutions, the goals we set in January, for some reason have become reasons to doubt ourselves and try reaching unreasonable plateaus. I don't quite understand the logic of continuing to make goals with the mindset that one will never reach it and even look for ways to break the goal. Don't get me wrong, I lived in that camp for a couple of decades only to find unhappiness and despair. I no longer prescribe to the nonsense; I still make resolutions but I look at them much differently. Now my resolutions have a plan behind them.

Making a goal, or resolution, without connecting it to a plan is often the difference between success and failure. I know this from experience - I've had a few of those failures. Goals without plans are just positive thoughts that stay in your head. I'm sure you've heard of other sayings that talk about our constant need to set unattainable and meaningless goals. Why not make this year be different?

The same goal-setting-without-a-plan can be said about businesses. With the New Year often come new business adventures. Like our goals, new businesses need a plan - a business plan. This plan will help a business owner plan for the future, develop new goals for business development, and realize when the business needs to change direction. Stever  Robbins describes a business plan as "a tool for understanding how your business is put together." A properly written business plan will help with determining the staffing needs, marketing needs and strategies, and will hold a business owner to task.

 One of the myths in the business world is that once the business plan is written and accepted, it will no longer be used.This myth is the farthest thing from the truth. A well written business plan should be reviewed at least yearly and in some businesses quarterly. The review process is a time to review what goals were met, determine if goals must be changed, and adjust strategic planning with the new data in hand. A business plan is a living document - it changes as the face of the business changes, as the economy changes, and as the strategy changes.

According to Barry Ritholtz of Ritholtz Wealth Management, the top 10 reasons for small business failures are:

1. Lack of experience
2. Inefficient capital
3. Poor location
4. Poor inventory management
5. Over-investment in fixed assets
6. Poor credit arrangements
7. Personal use of business funds
8. Unexpected growth
9. Competition
10. Low sales

A business plan can help with all of those possible obstacles. Even the lack of experience can be addressed with an accurate plan; a business owner may have to research possible educational opportunities, networking opportunities, or possible partnerships to deal with lack of education. The important aspect is that the business plan would encourage an owner to acknowledge the obstacle and plan for ways to improve the situation. A business often fails because of the lack of planning.

In talking with local business owners the reason I hear over and over for not having a business plan is the lack of knowledge in writing one. Yes, you can purchase a template built business plan on the Internet with just a few clicks of a mouse; similar to the template built resume, it may not be adequate for your business. When choosing a company to write the business plan, the owner would want someone who is willing to collaborate on the plan; making the plan as unique to the business as possible. The most important aspect of a plan is not how well it is worded or how best to present it; rather, the important aspect is how in depth it researches the community, the economy, the needs of the business owner, and the strengths of the business idea itself. Remember, the plan will be revised at least yearly and so having working data as the baseline is the most important part of the plan. Having data that drives decisions and goal setting is a must-have in any business plan.

As a freelance writer with over fifteen years of experience in human resources and business analysis, I have written my share of business plans. Each of them has been unique to the business the plan was addressing. After reading the plan, some owners have gathered enough funding to start their dream, others have determined that they already had the resources they needed to start their dream, and some have even decided to not pursue the business at all. There has been a common thread through each of the writings - I have enjoyed working with the business owners and hearing their personal stories of accomplishment. I'd love to sit down with you as well and develop a business plan that paints a clear and concise view of the current business climate in your community and a distinct direction to take your business. For more information, please contact me at wrightjanine@ymail.com.