Business Planning, The Process
Business Planning, The Process
Your Vision, Mission and Values, should be written for both you personally and for your business. You should refer to them regularly to help you focus on what you believe in, where you want to go personally and where you want your business to go. Your personal and business statements combined become your business' culture which will be significant as you go forward and build your business.
Once you have your Vision, Mission and Values statement in place and have completed your internal and external evaluation, the next step is to put together a SWOT Analysis for your business (SWOT=Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). You have to do some real soul searching on this and put the information on paper as honestly and in as much detail as you can.
With the SWOT analysis complete your next step is to define your goals and objectives.
Goals are the next step down from the Vision. Vision is the big picture. Goals are generally short term (1,3,6, 12 months). Goals need to be outlined for you and your business.
Objectives, sometimes confused with goals, are the specifics of how to reach each goal. Objectives are measurable. They should be established for the same time frame as your goals.
Objectives must support your goals. Both goals and objectives must be realistic and obtainable. Setting goals and objectives that are not realistic and obtainable increases the odds of failure and frustration.
Next is to define the strategies that will be used to meet your goals and objectives.
Strategies can be as simple as a one-page listing of each strategy to a multi-paged document defining each strategy and associated tactics in detail. you must review your strategies regularly.
Tactics are the specific steps you need to put in place to implement each strategy.
Tactics should be written, detailed and measurable.
Strategies and Tactics are dynamic and need to be reviewed weekly and adjusted based on results being obtained, or not being obtained, and other factors that may arise and potentially affect the end results you are seeking.
To complete your business plan you need to add your key staffs BIO's and your revenue plan which is a complete topic in itself.
In summary:
A business plan united by a clear vision, mission and values statement tends to accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than those without a clear statement.
Always hold firm on your vision, it should be the cornerstone of your operation, your guiding light.
Your Strategies and Tactics should be fluid. You always need to be forward looking. Being proactive in managing your strategies and tactics will give you the best chance of realizing your vision. If you are only reactive to changes or problems, you will not reach your objectives.
The key to a successful business plan is to jointly set the business strategy and tactics with all the key people involved, so that everyone is aligned with the Vision, Mission, Values and goals. This insures that the business goes forward with everyone working together, promoting the vision and mission internally, as well as externally. This gives the business the greatest chance of attaining it's goals.
Setting a business strategy requires an understanding of the company's history, in particular the past year, and then looking forward to the year ahead in detail and the next four years in general.
A business plan is only a plan. It is only as good as the people implementing it. ALIGNMENT IS KEY. Forces pulling together in the same direction, will accomplish much more than forces pulling in different directions. A team working together. This requires good business management.
The future will not happen if one wishes hard enough. It requires decision, it imposes risk, it requires action, it demands allocation of resources, above all human resources, it requires work. - Peter Drucker on Strategic Planning.
Business Planning The Process - To learn more about this author, visit Andrew Nester's Website.
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To start the business planning process you have to develop a Vision, Mission, and Values statement and do a complete internal and external evaluation of where your business, or planned business, stands.
Your Vision, Mission and Values, should be written for both you personally and for your business. You should refer to them regularly to help you focus on what you believe in, where you want to go personally and where you want your business to go. Your personal and business statements combined become your business' culture which will be significant as you go forward and build your business.
Once you have your Vision, Mission and Values statement in place and have completed your internal and external evaluation, the next step is to put together a SWOT Analysis for your business (SWOT=Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). You have to do some real soul searching on this and put the information on paper as honestly and in as much detail as you can.
With the SWOT analysis complete your next step is to define your goals and objectives.
Goals are the next step down from the Vision. Vision is the big picture. Goals are generally short term (1,3,6, 12 months). Goals need to be outlined for you and your business.
Objectives, sometimes confused with goals, are the specifics of how to reach each goal. Objectives are measurable. They should be established for the same time frame as your goals.
Objectives must support your goals. Both goals and objectives must be realistic and obtainable. Setting goals and objectives that are not realistic and obtainable increases the odds of failure and frustration.
Next is to define the strategies that will be used to meet your goals and objectives.
Strategies can be as simple as a one-page listing of each strategy to a multi-paged document defining each strategy and associated tactics in detail. you must review your strategies regularly.
Tactics are the specific steps you need to put in place to implement each strategy.
Tactics should be written, detailed and measurable.
Strategies and Tactics are dynamic and need to be reviewed weekly and adjusted based on results being obtained, or not being obtained, and other factors that may arise and potentially affect the end results you are seeking.
To complete your business plan you need to add your key staffs BIO's and your revenue plan which is a complete topic in itself.
In summary:
A business plan united by a clear vision, mission and values statement tends to accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than those without a clear statement.
Always hold firm on your vision, it should be the cornerstone of your operation, your guiding light.
Your Strategies and Tactics should be fluid. You always need to be forward looking. Being proactive in managing your strategies and tactics will give you the best chance of realizing your vision. If you are only reactive to changes or problems, you will not reach your objectives.
The key to a successful business plan is to jointly set the business strategy and tactics with all the key people involved, so that everyone is aligned with the Vision, Mission, Values and goals. This insures that the business goes forward with everyone working together, promoting the vision and mission internally, as well as externally. This gives the business the greatest chance of attaining it's goals.
Setting a business strategy requires an understanding of the company's history, in particular the past year, and then looking forward to the year ahead in detail and the next four years in general.
A business plan is only a plan. It is only as good as the people implementing it. ALIGNMENT IS KEY. Forces pulling together in the same direction, will accomplish much more than forces pulling in different directions. A team working together. This requires good business management.
The future will not happen if one wishes hard enough. It requires decision, it imposes risk, it requires action, it demands allocation of resources, above all human resources, it requires work. - Peter Drucker on Strategic Planning.
Business Planning The Process - To learn more about this author, visit Andrew Nester's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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