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Begin with the End in Mind

Guest post by: Kerri Salls

Article Overview: Implementing the principle of Begin with the End in Mind actually helps streamline choices and decisions to align with your long-term vision for your business. Writing the business plan simply documents it.

Begin with the End in Mind

If you read Stephen Covey’s original ground-breaking book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you know what I’m talking about. Covey says by keeping the end clearly in mind, you can make certain that whatever you do on any particular day doesn’t violate the criteria you defined as supremely important to your goal. In the context of your business, that means staying true to your vision of what you set about to do and achieve. It means you start with a clear understanding of your destination for the business and yourself. It means you know where you are going so that you better understand and acknowledge where you are now towards that end. With that focus each day, you can ensure the next steps you take (and decisions made) are always in the right direction.

You could read articles, books and research papers on the importance of a business plan, or the volumes out there on how to write one. Some say you can’t start without one. In fact, some say you aren’t in business if you don’t have a business plan. That can be discouraging to would-be entrepreneurs or even those who have been developing their product or service for years. Indeed, there are so many talented, creative determined people who have opened their store or office, or tested a product long before they had a business plan – or even knew they were “supposed to” have one.

In technology, people often come up with an idea and create a prototype, even pre-sell it to a number of clients before they consider what type of business they are in. Professionals like accountants, chiropractors, massage therapists, or landscape architects, all get their career training and licensing with the intent of opening their own practice. Consultants and sales representatives focus on what they can deliver. But, the business side of how to do what they do is mostly glossed over.

I suggest that for many entrepreneurs and solo business owners, that’s okay, because the business plan is implicit in their focus, determination, effort and results. It simply isn’t set down on paper in a way that others recognize as a business plan. When that formal business plan becomes a necessity, then it’s appropriate to sit down and document it in a way that fills in the holes to meet specific objectives. It might be timely when you need to:

1. Share with a growing team what the vision and mission of the business are.
2. Develop a strategic marketing plan – rather than random tactics – aligned with your vision and mission.
3. Solicit additional outside resources to finance your growth or opportunity.
4. Implement systems and processes to keep everyone pulling in the same direction maintaining excellence in all areas.
5. Document for your internal (staff) and external (accountants, lawyers, ad agency, etc) team where you are taking the company so you don’t have to be the only mouthpiece for the business as it grows.
6. Establish a timeline for growth and its impact on the corporate structure and financing.

Thereafter it can become an exercise for your annual retreat (you do take an annual 3-day retreat to plan your three-year vision – right?) to revisit the Business Plan and consider refinements based on the evolution of your business, the market place and your vision.

Implementing the principle of Begin with the End in Mind actually helps streamline choices and decisions to align with your long-term vision for your business. Writing the business plan simply documents it.

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Article Tags: business plan, management by objectives, planning, strategy



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