26 Weeks Left - How is Your Year Going

Companies fall into two camps, they either plan for the calendar year or for the tax year.

For those on the calendar cycle, this is the half-time whistle. Time to regroup for a much improved second half. Just watch England’s first round World Cup match to see how 2 halves can be very different. For the tax planners, it’s end of Q1; three more quarters to go, no time to take your foot off the pedal.

Whichever camp you’re in, it’s the right time to refocus & re-plan for the next 90 days. H1 (Q1) has thrown a lot at us this year: Iran War Trump being Trump, oil cost and uncertainty, Starmer yes or no, Burnham…. It’s not all doom & gloom. You’ve already had great opportunities, unexpected, good and bad results, new clients, extra income, lost clients and lost income. Everything, and nothing might have changed.

It’s easy to say just review, reforecast and replan, but how?

Whether you are a founder, owner and CEO and FD and everything or you are a CEO with a senior management team, planning is a skill that takes time to learn and then master.

We’ve all been in meetings when the boss wants a SWOT analysis done first. After that everything lurches (hopefully) forward from there into some sort of plan that may have a better than ‘let’s keep fingers crossed’ chance of success. In my books, SWOTs never come first?

Why because you can’t complete a meaningful SWAT without doing your internal and external reviews first. Once they’re done, then you can start to construct a SWOT from a position of fact not fiction. There are lots of models you could follow, but don’t forget customers, competitors and suppliers.

This is the first step to get a clear ‘where we are now’ position. If this is where it all starts to go wrong for you (and your team) then engage an expert facilitator to get you to a verified robust plan. Expert facilitators will keep you on track throughout the process and can take the away.

Next question is ‘where should we be compared with our plan’? Is it a good gap up or is it an OMG bad gap down or sideways progress?

Now you are working with facts. Now the hard work starts. Perhaps its SWOT time…. As you start to assess the options and build the roadmaps. Will you set a new course or double down on the existing path. Decreasing targets shouldn’t be the plan, work out how to achieve. But you might be thinking how can we push the target higher

Define your targets, plan the roadmap, identify your critical rocks, revamp your KPI scorecards, assess risks old and new, identify issues and prioritise.

Now re-forecast cash flow, adjust your timed action plan and this alongside your one0page business plan makes up the 3 Pieces of Paper™ crucial to running a successful business.

Communicate the plan, messages for internal and external audiences then it is time to execute. Don’t forget to schedule continual reviews and adjust were necessary.

As the world continuing to throw us curveballs, stay agile and review the plan, actions, rocks and numbers weekly. That will make the next 90-day review easier to assess and plan.

The final plan is the celebration plan for the close of your year!