Please remove the confusion

When it comes to deciding on business plan layout or business plan structure, I estimate that around 80% fall into a frustrating and misleading trap.

The consequences of this can be disastrous. Let me explain:

I assume that you are looking on the Internet for useful information on deciding the structure or layout of your Business Plan.

Now here’s the trap that you need to know about. Most Internet based information is related to the structure, or layout of type “B” business plans.

If it’s a type “A” business plan you need, this information could be very misleading and confusing. So what’s the difference?

Get Smart Quick
The first thing you need to know is what’s a type “A” business plan and what’s a type “B” business plan. You can then make smart choices on what you need for your success pathway.

You will also understand why the business plan structure and business plan layout of each type needs to be completely different.

A Type “A” Business Plan is about Achieving Success
The purpose of a type “A” business plan is to get you and your team organised so that you can achieve business success.

It’s about clarity of thinking and clarity of implementation.

Type “A” business plans are frequently referred to as Strategic Business Plans or Internal Business Plans.

The desired outcome of a plan of this type is an inspired team with a clear understanding of what needs to be done to achieve business success. Soon we will cover the appropriate layout and structure.

A Type “B” Business Plan is about Getting Money

The purpose of a type “B” business plan is to convince some person or some organisation to provide funds for business development.

A type “B” business plan is essentially a selling or proposal document. Its job is to persuade or convince people on the merits of your business proposition.

If your intention is to create a business plan for the sole purpose of securing money, it’s a type “B” plan you need.

The terms Funding Plan or Information Memorandum are other names that are used for type “B” business Plans.

The desired outcome of a plan of this type is an agreement to provide funds or other forms of assistance – with terms that suit your requirements.

Now let’s talk about business plan structure and business plan layout.

Structure and Layout Suggestions

In general, type “A” and type “B” business plans should have a structure and layout to suit the particular application. Who the audience is, and what their needs are, should be key considerations.

As a guideline, here are two designs I have used frequently.

Type “A” Business Plan Structure and Layout An example Business Plan Layout for a Type “A” Business Plan

Typpe "A" Business Plan Layout Example- Internal or Strategic Business Plan

Remember, the purpose of a type “A” business plan is to answer the question: “How do we intend to achieve business success?”

1. The first section of this plan or document should be about why the business exists and what the business seeks to achieve in the short, medium and longer term. In the layout, this may be called Vision & Goals.

2. Marketing will normally be an early and important part of your business success plan. Where the business chooses to position itself – and the marketing strategies that will be used, are described here. This will be your Marketing Plan. Depending on your definition of marketing, you may wish to call this the Sales & Marketing Plan.

3. Most businesses exit to provide products or services – or a combination of both. A section of your plan will likely be needed to develop or describe your strategies on how this will be done – or how you will improve your current methods. Typically, I call this the Delivery Plan. Other titles could be Operations Plan or Customer Service Plan.

4. The Finance Plan. To succeed in business, good financial management is critical. A Finance Plan will typically look after the management of cash-flow, expense control and profitability. Depending on the type of business, capital expenditure planning may also be covered in this section of your plan. You could also use the term Financial Management Plan to name this section of your plan layout.

5. To make all of this happen, you will need people – good people. For a large organization, your plan layout should include a Human Resources Plan. In a smaller business, the name Team Plan may be more suitable.

6. For a business to be able to grow, a systems approach is desirable or essential. Typically 80% to 95% of administration and general business activities can be systemised. The portion of your business plan layout that deals with this is simply the Systems Plan.

7. If your business does or will require expensive plant or machinery or specialised facilities, a portion of your business plan structure should be dedicated to covering how you will manage in this area. Your accountant might call this the Asset Management Plan. Other names are Plant & Equipment Plan or Working Environment Plan. In the graphic above I have named this Equipment Plan.

Type “B” Business Plan Structure and Layout

Type "B" Business Plan Structure example - for Funding or Information Memorandum

An example Type “B” Business Plan structure

When I assist my clients in the preparation of a Funding Plan or an Information Memorandum, I usually do some research first.

What I’m looking to find out is what sort of information the funder wants – and what style do they want it presented in. In other words, I want to know what turns them ‘on’ – and what turns them ‘off’.

In the image above, I have illustrated the typical business plan structure or plan layout when the prime purpose is to secure funding of a business or important project.

Here are some notes on my approach to documenting this business plan layout or structure.

Part 1:

Although the Executive Summary is usually located at the front, I frequently do it last. A ‘Business Angle’ client of mine told me that he eliminates over 80% of funding proposals by the content of the Executive Summary. So I like to do this section carefully.

After the balance of the document has been constructed, you will likely be in a better position to better construct and concise and Executive Summary for your business plan.

Because the Executive Summary is so important, here are some quick tips.

In your Executive Summary, there are three issues you need to get across in a very concise way:

(1) What is the essence of the business – including key points of difference. If you have a good Elevator Speech or Elevator Pitch, you may be able to incorporate it into your Executive Summary.

(2) What’s in it for them (i.e. Why should they risk their money and reputation to back you?)

(3) What are you asking for (from them), in this plan/proposal. Is it just money, or do you need business expertise etc.

Using Modern Technology
Recently, I have been experimenting with short videos as a tool to quickly inform business funders. A link to YouTube.com may not be suitable for all Executive Summaries, but it is being done. It’s certainly a different approach – and it does get noticed.

Part 2:

The next section of your type “B” business plan is about you and your team. In my illustration, I’ve labelled this Background Information.

Generally, your most important job will be to convince the reader (or funder) that the people behind this proposal have a strong passion, know their stuff and can be trusted.

Start with your business success vision. This is where you get to tell your story – concisely. What passion, knowledge and talent are you bringing to this business proposition? How do you work together as a team? What are the values and principles that will drive this business?

Part 3:

Products (or Services) are covered next. Here you describe the value you can or propose to deliver. This may be in the form or products or services, or some combination. In this section of your business plan layout, you should also address the problems or issues that you will need to manage to be able to deliver your products or services. This may cover manufacturing, importing or affiliate relationships etc.

Part 4:

The Marketing and Strategy section of your plan may well be your greatest challenge. Your job here is to convince your audience that you understand and have workable strategies for the following:

1. Who or whom is your target market?

2. What is the problem or need they have, that you can satisfy?

3. How will you engage their attention and convince them to buy your product or service?

4. How will you make a profit from these transactions? I.E. Your business model…

5. What is your plan for long term sustainability?

Part 5:

The Team. If an individual or organisation is considering your viability and credibility, they will want to know about your team. So part of your business plan layout will need to do a good and honest selling job in this area. Typical items you may need to deal with are leadership, specialised skills and the team’s culture. How you plan to acquire and retain key people may be an important requirement if you need to prove sustainability.

Part 6:

Financial Projections must be included in your business plan structure. Both commercial and non-profit organisations must be able to demonstrate understanding and capability in this area. If this is a new business start-up, or a significant business expansion (for an existing business), careful consideration should be given. The inclusion of best case, likely case and worst case scenarios, can be indicative of good financial management.

Part 7:

People and organisations with money did not get that way by accident. Risks and Rewards are a part of their everyday thinking. In your business plan layout you will need to address both of these factors. This may be in a separate section – as shown in my visual, or you may choose to structure this information into all of the above parts of your plan.

If you have any question or suggestions, please use the comments section. I’m happy to follow up on these.

Andrew Smith

The Business Plan Guy

To explain how this works, let’s look at a couple of simple diagrams.

In the above diagram there is a box on the left marked “A”. Let this represent your current situation – it’s where you are now.

Next, let the larger circle on the right represent your desired situation – or the goal you wish to achieve.

So the purpose of your business plan is to answer the question “How do I/we get from “A” to “B”?

However, in reality your road is not a clear pathway. It’s likely that you have obstacles or barriers to growth that are slowing you down or maybe completely blocking your pathway and progress.

This is represented in the diagram below:

Based on this way of illustrating the problem, the purpose of your business plan is to devise a way of overcoming theses obstacles or finding an alternative pathway.

 Then my answer is very simple.

 DON’T!

 If your mindset is about how to write a business plan, then it likely you will suffer a double whammy – one, writer block and two, the fundamental error of trying to describe something that you don’t understand.

 So what’s the solution?

 My recommendation is that you think in terms of “DESIGNING” your business plan.

 Let me explain this in common sense terms that we all understand.

 If you were going to build a new house, you would never consider writing the house plan – you or your architect would design the plan.

 The Visual Factor
The term design implies a visual factor. When you can see and understand the big picture, detailing is simpler.

 If it’s a house or a business or whatever, the common sense rule is that if you can’t picture in clearly in your mind – beware!

 Avoid This Error
Making decisions and taking action when you don’t understand, is a common cause of business failure.

 If you have designed something well, then the process of turning and idea or desire into reality has a reasonable chance of success.

 If the solution design is poor (or missing), then failure is a strong possibility.

 A Better Question
A better question is “How to Design a Business Plan“. In my experience there are three options or approaches:

1.  The “What needs fixing” approach
2. The “Vision driven” method
3. The “What do we tell the investors” method

 Many entrepreneurs get off to a bad start by starting with the “what do we tell the investors” (or “what do we tell the bank”) option, because they desperately need the money.

 Typically this type of Business Plan will contain sales and profitability numbers that are not substantiated.

Most investors and lenders are not stupid. They know how to read between the lines and pick up what you are not saying. If your plan has no or low credibility, it is quickly dismissed.

 So What’s The Answer?

My suggestion is that you get clear in your own head how your business can succeed before you to try and influence investors or lenders (or family and friends).

 There are two parts to this:
Part One: Use the “What needs fixing” approach or the “Vision driven” method to design and detail a ‘How-We-Will-Succeed’ style Business Action Plan. This is sometimes referred to as a Strategic Business Plan.

Part Two: Practice the skills that will enable you to:

1. Effectively communicate what it is the you seek to a achieve – and why it’s important
2. Effectively describe how to intend to achieve this success
3. Honestly describe the range of financial performance figures that your plan is based on
4. Persuasively describe the business case that you asking investors or lenders to get involved with.

 In follow up articles, I will go over the how-to steps for Part One and Part Two described above.

 Andrew Smith
The Business Plan Guy

 Can you identify with this situation?

If I was to ask you to tell me what a “tactic” is, you would properly respond with a reply that mentioned actions or activities.

 In other words, what you have to do to get a result And I’d he happy with that.

 Next if I asked you to tell me what “strategy” is, there may be a silent pause. When you did start speaking, it’s likely that your confidence level will have dropped and your reply will contain words like “how to” and again some action words.

 The point I am trying to make is that it is likely that there is not a big difference in the meaning you give to the world “Strategy” and “Tactics“.

 So let me see if I can rectify this – and give you the potential for greater success in every important result getting opportunity.

Meaning of the words
Let me start by giving you one of my favourite and most practical definitions of strategy.

 ”Strategy is the simple fundamental logic of how you intend to achieve a predefined result”

 Good strategy is frequently expressed by describing what you are going to put in place to achieve a certain result.

 So strategy is usually about the complete big or bigger picture solution.

 And “tactics”. Tactics are the actions that will be needed to fulfil the strategy.

 Now here’s the payoff for you
Nine time out of ten, strategy can be explained in just a few simple sentences. Sentences that are constructed with simple easy-to-understand language.

 So we are talking one page or less of writing.  Just imagine if politicians did this all of the time.

 What this means for you is:

• (a) you can get your head around it – it’s not complex
• (b) You can use everyday common sense. You can quickly ask yourself, “Will this strategy or solution package, likely give me or us the results we are seeking?”

 Just think about how many poor business decisions you or your colleagues have made because you or they used tactics rather than strategy as your prime decision making tool.

 Let me leave you with this

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat”  Sun Tzu

 Andrew Smith

The Business Plan Guy

 When I use the word impact, I’m not necessarily meaning negative impact. However for many, the effect is negative, for some it’s profoundly negative.

 The purpose of this article can be described in one word. The word is CONTROL. It’s about putting you in control, or expanding your scope of control.

 Straight away, I know I will have triggered scepticism in many of my readers. So if you are sceptical, that’s fine. But please try and have a slightly open mind for just three minutes.

My proposition to you
Whether the current economic climate is impacting you positively or negatively, being in control has got to be a desirable situation.

So how can this be done?

In your business or organisation you have customers, clients and prospects. If you’re a non-profit, perhaps you call them members and prospective members. For this article let’s refer to them all as customers.

If you are now getting less (or more) business, the most likely reason is because your perceived value proposition has changed.

Is your business suffering – mildly or significantly?
Let’s look at the getting less business situation and explore ways to increase or improve your levels of improvement control.

Step 1. Could you carry out a survey or some simple market research? Is this something within your control?

The purpose here will to find out what’s going on in your market place.

It could be that some people in your marketplace have changed their requirements or their perception on what is and what is not good value for money.

Maybe in their minds, they perceive your product or service in its present form something they can do with less of.

Perhaps your customers are favouring a competitive product or service.

What about relationships? Are your customers now placing more importance how they are treated by the people they do business with?

Step 2. When you have gathered some up-to-date information on your market, here is the next step that you can control.

Make a list of the options that you could consider taking.

And do remember, not making any changes is always an option. It may not be a smart one, but it is an option.

Your options list might include repositioning your business in terms of what sector or sectors of the marketplace you wish to serve.

Also on your option list could be cutting out or making value changes to products or services.

As well as considering the tangible factors of your product or service offering, also consider the intangibles.

For example, could doubling or tripling the number of smiles and thank-yous that you deliver be an option?

Step 3. Now that you have a list of potential business strategy options, is it in your control to deliver a yes or no decision on each?

If making decisions of this type are not within your control, could you propose to your boss, steps one and two above, and then request a yes or no decision?

What about if this recession is having a positive impact on your business or organisation?

If the current economic situation is bringing you more or better business, you also need a recession strategy.

In this situation, you need answers to the following two question:

•  What research do we need to carry out to fully understand why we are being perceived as a superior value proposition?
• What changes should we be considering to make our improved business situation sustainable?

Conclusion

Whatever your current situation, a recession strategy is something you do have control over.

You can ask questions and note the answers.

You can list options – including the no changes option.

You can make decisions or request your boss to make decisions.

Andrew Smith
The Business Plan Guy

 This may be from a bank, from investors or maybe from a well-heeled potential shareholder.

If the answer is yes then please read on.

Let’s start with the basics

I’m making the assumption that you have a Strategic Business Plan or an Internal Business Plan.

 In other words, you are clear on the purpose and direction of the business. And you have a system of action plans or a roadmap to get you from where you are now, to where you want to be.

 If you don’t have a good workable plan of this type, then this should be your first priority.

 Elsewhere in this blog are articles on how to do this. If you are short of time, the simple 100 day plan might be an attractive option.

 Back to getting the money  

To persuade someone to invest or lend you money, you should prepare a document that investors call “An Information Memorandum”.

 This is typically a 10 – to 30 page document that provides information on what the business is all about, the amount of money you are seeking and the risk/reward information needed for an investment or loan decision.

 The very critical part

Most Information Memorandum documents are never fully read. Many are instantly dismissed. The reason for this is because the Executive Summary did not ‘hook’ the reader.

Financially successful people are usually busy people. They like business proposition to be presented to them in a clear and concise way.

If you can prepare an executive summary that instantly grabs an investors attention in the right way, you are well on your way to success.

It was my intention to provide you with a series of tips to help you achieve this. But here’s a much better way.

Frank Peters is a very experienced angle investor in Southern California. As well as his own personal angel investment experience, he gained a wealth of experience as Chairman of the much admired Tech Coast Angels http://www.techcoastangels.com/

 On his website, Frank has published what he calls his irreverent Guidelines for Executive Summaries. http://www.thefrankpetersshow.com/attachments/ES.pdf

 This is a gem – straight from the horse’s mouth. Follow this and you will be far ahead in the race.

Andrew Smith
The Business Plan Guy

 The purpose of your 100 day plan is to have a simple and speedy way to reorganize or refocus your business or organisation.

 In Part 1 of these articles, you learned how to start the process of getting clear organized thinking by creating a brief Vision document.

 This document answers the number one strategic question: “What would my/our business or operation be like if it was *functioning* effectively.

 In Part 2, we started a process of smart solution simplification. As mentioned, for your 100 day plan to be effective, it must be simple enough for all concerned to fully understand.

 To begin this, you were asked to identify just two or three priorities from all of the vision goals that you identified.

 Next, you were asked to name or describe the “Solutions” or “Processes” that would be needed to achieve the vision goals you have named.

 At this point, let me stress it is not necessary that you know how to do the needed action steps.

 So Step 1 and Step 2 are very *WHAT* focused. Not how focused.

 The “how-to” solutions

Finally, it’s now time to handle the “how-to” action steps for your 100 day plan.

 Because doing the action steps is a step that trips up many, let me explain the logic that I suggest you follow.

 Know or not-know
I’m going to suggest that 90% of all of the action plans that you will need to create, come into just two categories:

1.  You know how to do what’s needed
2. You don’t know the how-to action steps

 The other 10% is likely to be: “I think I know some of the action steps, but lack some skills or knowledge for taking effective action. In other words, it’s a combination of the two categories mentioned above.

 So here is how the action plan system works.

 Select one of the “Solution” requirements you identified in Part 2

1. Make a decision as to whether you are, or are not, confident on the required how-to action and implementation steps.
2. If you do understand what need to be done, do this:Make a numbered list of the required action steps. Beside each action steps, note the name of the person who will perform the task and the desired or required completion date.
3. If you *do not* know how to achieve the selected goal, do this:Make a list of the steps that you (or a team member) will take to:
   (a) Learn how to perform the needed action steps – or
   (b) Delegate or outsource this requirement – or
   (c) Seek help from friends or business associates – or
   (d) Investigate the feasibility of this goalAgain, for the selected action option, note the name of the person who will perform the task and the desired or required completion or decision date.

 As you can see, this procedure puts you and keeps in control. If you understand the situation, it’s simple and straightforward.   

 If it’s a requirement that’s beyond your knowledge or skill, this method gets you into “plan the next part of the plan” mode.

 If you have any questions or suggestions for other planning related articles, I can be contacted at Andrew(at)apt.co.nz

 Andrew Smith

The Business Plan Guy

In other words, it was about you getting clear on what your business would look like and be like if it were functioning effectively.

 The next logical step in your 100 day plan is to be able to answer the question: “how will I (or we) make this happen?

 In this post I will show you a simple way to design the “how-to” section of your 100 day plan. So this is about strategy, or to be precise strategy design.

Simplification

The first strategy tool I need to show you is the art of simplification. I believe that simplification is the ultimate form of sophistication.

Remember, this is a 100 day business action plan. Simplicity is essential. If it’s going to work, it has to be simple for you (or your team) to understand and do.

So here is what you need to do.

Step 1.

In Part 1 of this article, you prepared a one or two page document that:
(a)  identified the important key functions that are the basis of how you operate or do business. Marketing and financial management were mentioned as potential examples.
(b) described what it would look like or be like if these functions were working effectively.

Your first step in the making it happen process, is about setting some priorities. You can’t do it all at once. If you spread yourself too thinly, you will surely fail.

So do this.  

Carefully read through your one or two page vision document (from Part 1). Then select just two or three vision goal that you believe would move your business forward.

Only you will know what these should be, but let me repeat a couple of examples vision goals I gave you in Part 1:

Example 1: “We have a great understanding of what our customers want in terms of value for money.”

 Example 2: “We are able to relate well to our clients and describe the benefits or our services in ways that motivates them to buy.”

Again, let me remind you to keep it simple and just go for two  or three functional improvement goals. In you next 100 day plan you can select another two or three for the making it happen process.

Step 2.

Take a fresh sheet of paper. At the top, give your page the title: “100 Day Plan – Making It Happen Solutions”

Next list your two or three selected vision goals. Start with the words “Our selected focus goals for this 100 day plan are:” (then list your selected items.)

Step 3.

Your next task is a simple one.  All that is required is that you name or identify the solutions you will need to address each chosen goal.

So let me show you by example. Here is what your page might look like:

————————————————————

100 Day Plan  -  Making It Happen Solutions

Our two selected functional improvement goals are:

1. We have a great understanding of what our customers want in terms of value for money.

2: We are able to relate well to our clients and describe the benefits or our services in
ways that motivates them to buy.

Making It Happen Strategy

For goal number one, we will implement a “Customer Survey Process”.

The purpose of this survey will be to better understand our customer’s perceptions
on value for money as they see it.

For goal number two, we will implement a “Client Relationship Plan”

The purpose of this plan is to:
(a) Establish ways that we can better get to know and relate to the 20% of customers
that provide the bulk of our income.
(b) Engage a professional copywriter to translate our products technical features into
simpler customer benefit language that is more likely to stimulate sales.

 ————————————————————————————————————————-

As you can see, all this one page document needs to do is:

(a) List the improvement goals that you have selected to work on
(b) Name (or describe) the process or processes or solutions that you believe will be needed to bring about the improvements required.

As well as naming the solution, it is a good idea to write a brief “purpose” statement for each solution process. This starts to clarify your improvement intentions.

If you have trouble naming the solution required for a particular goal, all you need to do is write the goal or a shortened version of it and add the words “Solution Process”.

So for example goal 1 “We have a great understanding of what our customers want in terms of value for money” – you could call this:

“The understanding of what of what our customers want in terms of value for money solution plan.”

In other words, just add the words “solution plan” to the goal.

Now this may seem a gross simplification to you, but I promise it will still work.

What about the action steps?

In Part 3 of this article, I will, show you how to translate any solution plan name into simple action steps that you can do.

Andrew Smith

The Business Plan Guy

 And, in these current economic choppy waters, it’s a great way to quickly refocus or reinvent a business that is no longer viable in its current state.

 So in response to several emails, here is a “do-it-yourself’ version.

 This 100 day plan is suitable for:

• Commercial business operations
• Professional service providers
• Non-profit organisations

The first two steps are vision focused. To be able to move forward, you need to get clear on what your business or organisation would need to “be like” to survive and thrive in this new economy.

Step one: Make a short list of the major “functions” or processes that are the basis on how you operate or do business. Typically, these might be marketing, service delivery, human resources (or team), financial management and administration etc.

 Keep it as simple as possible by focusing on just the major functions. Look to identify the three to seven functions that are the fundamentals or workhorse of your business or operation.

 Step 2: Get a clean sheet of paper.  Select the first function from your list. Then write a paragraph or two that describes what it would look like and be like if this part of your business was operating very effectively ? in the current economic climate.

 Very-very important. This is a “WHAT” exercise, not a “HOW-TO” exercise. Do *not* write down any ‘how-to’ methods or solutions. Keep your descriptions result, outcome or performance related. Keep in mind, you are creating a “Vision”. A business operation vision.

 For example, for your Marketing Function, you may say something like: “We have a great understanding of what our customers want in terms of value for money.”

 Or you might say: “We are able to relate well to our clients and describe the benefits or our services in ways that motivates them to buy.”

 At this stage, it is not necessary that you know how to do this. The how-to solutions will be worked on later. Your job at this stage is to understand what excellent operational competency would look like for your particular business type.

 Repeat this procedure for each of the major functions you listed in Step 1.

 If possible, see if you can keep this to a one page Vision Document. Two pages would be the maximum.

On completion of these two steps, you should be able to answer the “Number One” strategic question: “How would I/we know if our business was operating successfully?”

In part 2 of this blog post, I will show you a simple way to manage all of the “How-to” solutions.  

Andrew Smith

The Business Plan Guy

“I want to write a business plan. The option that appeals to me most is using a template. It seems to me that this is a good way of not reinventing the wheel. What is your opinion on using a business plan template?

So here is my reply.

Hi Jerry, before I can answer that question properly I need more information. But to save time, here is a pre-prepared response that I have on file.

Business Plan Templates – good choice or bad?

The first thing you need to get clear on is purpose. In other words, why do you want to create a business plan, what do you want the plan to achieve?

To help answer this question, you need to get clear on what type of business plan you need to create.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of business plans.
Type One: The first is the kind that you might take to a bank or potential investor. Its purpose is to persuade someone to lend you money or invest in your business.
Type Two: The second is essentially an internal plan. It’s a business success blueprint or business direction roadmap. Its purpose is to effectively convert ideas and goals into good decisions and smart action steps. If it’s a good plan, you will always be clear on what you need to do next; on your pathway to success.
If you would like more information of this topic, see my previous blob post at

http://thebusinessplanblog.com/writing-a-business-plan-avoid-this-frustrating-mistake/

TYPE ONE:
Now if your need is for Type One, and you have really got your business act together, then a business plan template could be a good tool to prompt you for the right information. If your not sure what “getting your business act together” means, checkout the link above.

But there may be a better way for you!

Consider this. If you know who or whom you are going to approach for finance, do some quick research. See if you can find out – what is their criteria for lending money or providing a grant.

If you know this information, your business plan or financing application can be better targeted than a generic business plan template.
TYPE TWO:
If the purpose of your business plan is to get your business operation organized and positioned for success, a business plan template may be a bad idea.

Here’s why.

The success or otherwise of your business will be greatly impacted by three major factors.

The first is your vision or passion. What you seek to achieve and why it’s important. Developing clarity is this are is vital. Particularly in this challenging new economy. This should be goal number one of your business planning process.

The second is your ability to put in placed the processes and systems that can turn your vision into practical reality. Designing these systems and processes should be the number two priority of your business plan.

The third and vital factor that you must come to grip with is what I call “The Making-It-Happen plan. Time and time again, business plans are created only to die on the shelf. To succeed, you must be a leader and take charge. The Making-It-Happen process needs to be a daily priority for you, the business leader.

Now I think you will find that a business plan template would be a poor substitute for some common sense and effort on your part.

This blog is totally dedicated to enabling people like you to be able to plan for business success. Take a look at some of my other post for topics that can help you achieve your business goals.

Andrew Smith
The Business Plan Guy