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Planning: The Roadmap to Success

Guest post by: Marian Banker

Article Overview: Think of a plan as a map. It's meant to be a guide. The planning process helps us focus on the "how" of what we want to accomplish. It organizes our thinking, identifies the steps and gives us tools to monitor how we're doing. Those who create and write plans have a much better chance of success, yet so many people don't follow through. Why not? We may think there's little value in spending the time to create a plan. Also, it's unfamiliar territory and we're not sure what we need to do. We may carry the plan in our head, but it's always in an abstract state. We want to take it from the abstract to the next stage of realization - putting it in writing.

Planning: The Roadmap to Success

Think of a plan as a map. It's meant to be a guide. The planning process helps us focus on the "how" of what we want to accomplish. It organizes our thinking, identifies the steps and gives us tools to monitor how we're doing.

Those who create and write plans have a much better chance of success, yet so many people don't follow through. Why not? We may think there's little value in spending the time to create a plan. Also, it's unfamiliar territory and we're not sure what we need to do. We may carry the plan in our head, but it's always in an abstract state. We want to take it from the abstract to the next stage of realization - putting it in writing.

Let's assume you have taken the steps that lead you to the point of needing a plan.

After you've decided what you're going to do (goals) and how you're going to do it (strategy), you'll need to decide the specific actions that will fulfill your strategy and lead you to your goals.



How do you know what actions to take? Keeping in mind your goals and strategy, together with the business intelligence you've gathered and evaluated, brainstorm a number of possible actions. You might review these with key staff and advisors; then select those that seem to have the most potential to produce desired results. At this point it might be a good idea to discuss your plans with the people who would be involved in carrying out the actions. This could save you money, time and unproductive actions.



If your goal is to increase sales 20%, what strategy and actions do you think will produce that result? If your sales were $1 million in the previous period, your goal is now $1.2 million in sales. Your strategy might focus on opening a new market, increasing the conversion rate of prospects or improving the return from marketing efforts. The specific actions you choose will be unique to your business and your market.



Your selected actions will likely be accomplished over time and may require additional equipment, supplies, staff, contract services, etc. So far you've not given consideration to what these actions will cost or how they might correspond to your projected cash flow. Most businesses have a cycle that's somewhat predictable. Whenever possible time your actions (actually the expense of actions) when your cash flow is good.



Using your goal and strategy as the reference, take these four steps to create your plan.

1 - Determine the actions to be taken;

2 - Calculate what they will cost;

3 - Decide when they will occur;

4 - Make adjustments as needed to correspond to cash flow.

Understand that the costs of whatever actions you are planning must be covered by cash flow, whether from operations or from other sources (credit line, loan, equity funding).



Keep in mind that even if your action can be expected to produce additional revenues these will likely not be realized for several months. The decision about when to take your actions is dependent on how you plan to cover the costs of the actions. Factors like implementation time, lead time for sales and receipt of payment from time of sale will influence timing of your actions.

Once you know your actions you can fairly accurately predict what it will cost to carry them out. They should be specific enough so you can calculate if they can be accomplished with existing staff or you have to hire additional or contract help. If equipment or supplies are needed to carry out your plan, you must consider the time to obtain them and costs to purchase or lease.

General and administrative expenses such as salaries for management and support staff and basic operating expenses (rent, utilities, office expenses, etc) will occur regardless of your plans. A look at historical operating expenses will give you a good idea of what these might be. Keep in mind that costs, in general, will likely increase. Consider if the effects of your plan will impact on these costs. If you increase sales, will you need more billing help or customer support staff?



Determine who will carry out each action and approximately how long it will take. I find it's easiest to list each goal first, then the strategies that apply to that goal and then the actions for each strategy together with responsibility and, ultimately, start and finish dates.



Use this plan as your roadmap for the period. Just as you would if you were taking a road trip, you'd keep checking your roadmap (or your GPS today) to make sure you're staying on course as you go. Knowing your destination (your goals) and having a plan to get there, is the roadmap to business success.

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Article Tags: calculate costs, cash flow, determine actions, roadmap



Related Forum Posts
Re: How do you make the most of your day? - Planning, To Do lists, and deadlines all help me. Also being self critical of my own time management helps me raise the bar. I still check email too often though.
Re: THE SECRET TO SUCCESS IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD...RIGHT NOW!!! - Success = Thinking (Head) + Heart (Feeling / Interest) + Hand (doing/ action). Success - H3 Robert
Re: Success - I think it was Gary Player who said the harder I practice the luckier I become when it came to his success as a world class golfer. Planning and dedication to a task can make all the difference between success and failure. MichelleJ
Re: Quote of the Day - "If you hesitate, some bolder hand will s - Excellent quote, Evan. This reminds me of the saying, "The early bird catches the worm." It's important to act on impulses, rather than hesitate and plan. Planning isn't a bad thing and is warranted in certain cases, but those who act quickly will get a step ahead of the competition.
Nice List - Nice list, and I agree with everything you all have added! Planning is the biggest one of all! Look at everything from every aspect possible, and then ask others to look at it as well. It's extremely important that you consider everything before jumping into things, and it goes so much smoother! Also, some young entrepreneurs tend to have an unrealistic mindset (I can sell 4000 of this product in my first week!). Make sure you know what you're getting into, and don't expect something that won't ever happen. ~Marie


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