Well here we are in the new year of 2010 and all of us have most likely have thought of some New Year's resolutions for our personal lives and our businesses. But how many of us have followed through and written down a focused, structured business plan for 2010? Every business, whether small or large, must have a clear, concise business plan to get to where they are going.
It reminds me of the story Alice in Wonderland when Alice is skipping down the road and she comes to a fork in the road and stops and asks the Cheshire cat directions. The cat says, "Where are you going?" and Alice says, " I am not sure." The Cat responds, "Well then I guess any road will do!" You see, if we do not have a clear plan for our business then we may end up where we do not want to end up.
So the question is "Where do you want your business to end up?"
I am talking here about a plan with which you can manage your business day in and day out. A Plan that is dynamic, a living document that will change as your business and the outside business environment inevitably will change.
This is the ONE PAGE BUSINESS PLAN.
Every business must ask 5 basic questions?
What are you building? - Vision
Why are you building it? - Mission
What will you measure? Objectives
How will you build it? - Strategies
What work needs to be done? Action Plan
Here's what some CEO's and executives say about their annual business planning process.
1. "It seems like we start earlier every year, and yet we get less out of the process."
2. "The plan we complete in November and present to the board in December seems to have little value by April."
3. "Our executive team loves to talk about planning, but it is difficult to get it into a written form that is usable."
So what is the answer? The One Page Business Plan provides the following:
1. A simple straight forward process
2. Produces tools useful throughout the year
3. Process that fosters cross divisional communication
4. The One Page Business Plan process is simple. Five elements to plan that work in any profit, cost or support center.
Remember profitability is not an accident nor is it a guarantee. But you must always start with a plan. So what road are you going to take this year? Maybe a good idea to keep it to One Page!
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