The Power of Planning

When starting out in business, we tend to get overexcited, wanting to take on every aspect of our business ourselves. We end up wearing so many hats at the beginning, as we want to be in control. Being aware that this isn’t sustainable nor efficient, we bring others on board, thinking this must be the way to achieve our envisioned success.

Our small team works, their responsibilities are clear, and they do everything as needed. However, our business is still not thriving as it should. If everyone is working as a team, and things are getting done, why do 90% of businesses fail before their fifth year?

There are a few reasons and many factors that come into play. The most prevalent, from which all other issues are born is the failure to plan. Failure to create a proper business plan, financial plan, operating plan, or marketing plan will have detrimental effects on any new business. These are some of the most fundamental plans that every business must have to survive, let alone thrive.

A familiar narrative often goes like this:

“I’m so excited and passionate about (topic) but I’m tired of working for someone else and making them money. I can do this on my own. I QUIT! I’m starting my own business.”

BAM! A new business is born. Excited, the owner starts doing everything themselves – sales, marketing, production, admin, financials…you name it. The business kicks off, it’s going well, and more work is coming in. To keep up, the owner hires an assistant. The assistant takes on a delegated workload and things are looking bright. Yay! The business continues to grow and someone else joins the team. The

owner is ecstatic – everything is going just great…until it’s not.

Suddenly, customers are calling in with complaints here and there. We are falling behind on some, orders are being missed, invoices are not going out, and so on and so forth. Then the blame game starts within the team, and before we know it our business is really going south.

What if there is another way? A better way? What if there is a way to guarantee everything will get done, properly, and on time?

The good news is that there is, and it’s simpler than we may think. It’s called PLANNING.

While our motivation is two steps ahead of us, excited to start implementation, planning is a long-term investment. Planning certainly saves us time and sometimes a lot of money in the long run.

When we draft a business plan, budget, marketing, and sales plan, and actually utilize and put these plans into action, our business’s chances of success rise by 30%!

If you have an accountability partner, such as a partner, spouse, friend, or hired coach, your chances of success rise by 95%. Let that sink in a little…95% chance of success!

You have already mitigated many potential risks, just by spending some time on developing a quality plan. When you have a plan, roles, responsibilities, and expectations are clear. There is no more guesswork, no more missed orders and blame game. When you have a plan, you establish operating systems and procedures to have more efficient operations. When you have a plan, you set key performance indicators and goals and reach them. When you have a plan, there is NO LIMIT to business

sustainability and growth!

Start planning, immediately.