Quick Effective Planning

Every 90 days, successful businesses regroup, reflect & refocus. They update their plan, their priorities and budget and then tell everyone.

Everyone knows they should have a plan but they never seem to get round to putting it down on paper.

Mention business plans and owners quake. They’ve all experienced the painful process of preparing a huge document only to ignore it after a few weeks and leave it propping open a door. A business plan that detailed, is only needed when raising money but not for running a business. The One Page Business Plan is the solution.

Rory McIlroy famously writes his goals on the first boarding card he’s given at the beginning of each year. The card stays in his wallet, reminding him of his goals. At year-end he reviews his performance against his goals; it always involves an improvement plan!

Some people are good at holding the plan in their head, others not. When it’s in your head it’s easy to scale back the challenging goals you set at the start of the year. Or you ignore them altogether!

When they’re in your head, no-one else knows what they are! Each person you tell will interpret them differently; they hear different things, some bits they don’t hear at all and other make it up! That’s why you get 5 different versions of the vision and goals from a 5 person leadership team!

All you need is the important points written clearly on one page of A4.

• Everyone will read it, there’s no confusion or communications that are ‘lost in translation’
• Everyone knows where you’re going, why you’re going to try to get there and
• Everyone knows how you’re going to get there and the part they have to play.
• It’s easy to re-forecast every 90 days.

When I work with businesses, I use the one page business plan as part of the 3 Pieces of Paper™ process. The key is to extract the goals, plans and dreams from you and then get it down on paper. If might feel onerous but we always find business owners have virtually all the answers in their head.

Once written down its easy to reflect, review, refine and refocus.

Now it becomes a dynamic document that informs your decision making – that famous question posed by Ben Hunt-Davies; “Will it make the boat go faster”. It will keep you on track and less distracted by ‘shiny things’ that chew up your time with no reward.

The one page business plan helps you create an action plan and assign accountability. Chunking down on tasks makes them easier to swallow and so they get done.

If it’s more than 90 days since you last reviewed your plan then it’s time to complete your one page business plan. Don’t drift along, make a plan, assign the actions and do it! If you’re not sure how to start, call me and book an appointment.