An effective streamlined business plan, whether for a one person consulting company or a large retail operation, should describe the organization's focus in terms that are easy to understand so that investments and effort directly match strategic objectives.
There is a common thread that runs through the business growth assessment interviews I perform. Small and large business owners often complain about conflicting and changing priorities, vague targets, unpredictable results, unsound investment strategies, unclear lines of authority and responsibility, management confusion and staff frustration.
Too many leaders echo Lily Tomlin's lament: "I always wanted to be somebody, but maybe I should have been more specific."
An effective business plan, whether for a one person consulting company or a large retail operation, should describe the organization's focus — its mission, vision and objectives — in terms that are easy to understand so that investments and effort directly match strategic objectives. And, while there are myriad articles and books about how to write a business plan, sometimes the overall purpose can be lost in the process. So, it needs to be streamlined.
The real challenge — what separates the slow-growth organizations from the barnstormers — is a leader's willingness to develop a business strategy that consists of clear and measurable objectives, has the support of key staff and is used throughout the year to measure progress and make decisions. This implies the use of a sound decision making process…one that ensures that actions that impact resources are carefully considered against a set of business plan criteria. And, there also needs to be a willingness to say no when necessary to avoid costly business digressions.
The age of omnipotent business leaders is over. And although this management model may produce near-term results, eventually even the most loyal subjects will rebel. Unfortunately, a lot of business owners still haven't learned that input from employees and customers is crucial to successfully identifying the internal factors that will affect the organization's ability to sustain reasonable growth. And external changes in enabling technologies, budget and policy, market/citizen demand, competitor strategies and resource supply also need to be reflected in the business plan.
Business leaders who run their own strategic planning meetings are not always open to suggestions from staff about different strategies. How willing are employees to express their true opinions, especially in an open forum? A strong facilitator can usually level the playing field enough to allow an honest exchange of ideas, but even the world's most enlightened facilitator won't succeed if the leader resists change.
Incentive plans should reward behaviors and results that are consistent with strategic objectives. But strategic plans alone don't guarantee business growth — action plans do.
Prioritize and estimate the cost and return on investment of each action. Then match all the actions with the operating budget. Only implement what is affordable. I've worked with several organizations that have developed a gigantic list of actions only to turn them over to managers for implementation in their spare time. This almost never works. If I hear one more business manager declare, "We need to get it done with sweat equity," I'm going to scream!
Finally, translate strategic objectives into relevant and measurable actions to be assigned to individuals who are given the necessary resources and then held accountable. Action results should be monitored. If you don't hold your staff or yourself responsible, they or you probably won't care enough to perform.
Aligning your investments with what you are talking about takes courage. But it's the only reliable way to become somebody. Just ask Lily.
Learn more about the author, Michael Lisagor.
It’s so true that if a leader is not ready to change, he won’t hear much honest feedback.
Another problem I see is leaders in big organizations are so overwhelmed that they overlooked the strategic alignment with the other internal teams. Leadership coaches need to make sure their clients to take deep breathes and think clearly enough to have the vision of leading a successful organization.
I definitely agree. Your observation reminds me of the strong connection between our internal well being and our external circumstances. Successful leaders can't afford to ignore working on either aspect of their lives. You might enjoy my latest book, The Enlightened Manager (on amazon.com). I believe it resonates with your leadership perspectives.
Feels like you wrote this for me, Michael. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
As a very small business, my business plan isn't typical. It's a living beast really, forever changing and growing and living and breathing. It's not for the bank, it's for me. My first one was on post-it notes (and it worked so well I might go back to this "template". Easy to change around!)
Great article, thanks for sharing your insight!
Michael,
So true! You nailed it. I find my work with clients in creating what we call a "working busines plan" helps them focus on what matters.
I applaud those coaches and consultants who take the business plan off the shelf and makes it a working, living document.
As you state in your article...this process helps the business owner, whether solopreneur or organization, gain clarity and objective so they view their entity as apart from themselves.
Now that I re-read this, I may be projecting into your article. ;-) Nonetheless, thanks for contributing good stuff!
PS I (probably like you) use the same model for my own business as my clients. Which is a great reminder for all of us to revisit our working business plan on a regular basis.
My favorite Brian Tracy quote: Every minute spent in planning saves nine in execution. (The only solution I know for busy people to gain more time!)
Appreciate all the comments. I probably should add that I also had a few clients whose problem is overplanning and procrastination. In this case, the challenge was to give them the management tools and confidence necessary to make and/or delegate decision making. Difficult to say which is more destructive to an organization - leaders who decide too quickly with little thought or those who study everything too much!
So I pose this question from the young inquiring mind would it be better to pay a company to do your business plan OR do it yourself? which could lead to the specific unclarities and misdirection in future situations in my business.
Great question, Edward. The answer is that neither by itself works well. I don't recommend having someone else do a business plan for you or doing it by yourself. Rather, it is most effective to engage the services of someone who can help you (mentor you) in a collaborative way on how to put together a focused, actioned oriented business plan and who also has business experience to help you identify and mitigate the risks that might prevent you from succeeding. You also need to work with someone who can tell you the truth even when you don't want to hear it! The things that derail most small businesses are things that the business owner doesn't want to listen to until it's too late. Because of the strong Christian orientation of your business, you have some unique questions to consider and business decisions to make that will significantly impact your investment and marketing strategy. Thanks for asking! Mike
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