Businesses, like buildings, require a blueprint or layout plan. Could you start building and putting up walls? Sure, you can start with enthusiasm and creativity, but there will come a point where the parts don’t fit together the way they should and your efforts start to feel unproductive, confused, or even wasted.
Entrepreneurs start businesses in many ways depending on their personalities and belief systems. Some need detailed and well researched plans. Others jump in, get clients, and are up and running before they’ve even decided what business they choose to be in. Then there’s everyone in between.
For some, planning dampens their enthusiasm, for others, it’s an absolute necessity. Regardless, the planning process itself is a great exercise, pushing the business owner to develop clarity and goals in key areas.
Where it gets interesting, in my opinion, is after the plan is finished. How is it used? Is it used at all? Does it turn out to be a guide light or a hard limiter?
In order for one to adhere to very detailed plans, the business owner, the organization, and the plan must all be well aligned. The plan should be reviewed and revised regularly, quarterly or monthly, so that the consistency remains intact.
For the non-planning types, a business plan provides vision, structure, and overall shape. It’s a helpful framework that provides structure, direction, and purpose while leaving plenty of room to change and create over time.
Here are some key components of a business plan that can serve as the foundation for your developing business:
1.Your Vision – There is something you imagine when you enter the business. Capture that vision on paper. Why are you driven to be in business at all? Who does it serve and how? In your best future, what does it all look like as it unfolds?
Specificity in your vision is key. This is the snapshot “in the future” that you have in your mind as a prize. The plan is designed to help you achieve this vision, so the clearer the vision, the more useful the plan will be.
2. The why – Document and regularly remind yourself why this vision is important to you. Your “big why” is whatever reason you have that is meaningful enough to propel you through challenges and tough times. Identify your most important reasons for being in business and remind yourself why you’re willing to do whatever it takes to recommit each day.
3. Unique shine – Your unique brilliance is that special life force you bring to your business that makes it truly yours and empowers it. If you examine what you have always loved (since childhood), add words or qualities to it, you have something really special that marks and differentiates your business because of the qualities it brings.
Your brilliance is not a technique or skill, it is a talent that emanates from you and permeates your work. For example, a unique brilliance statement might be: “I trigger innovation.” Keep it simple but powerful. Think of Walt Disney. I think his childhood imagination was his unique brilliance, and look how it developed.
4.a stand – What is a general principle of your business? Are you championing something in your business that transcends products and services? Indicate what you represent that is expressed through your business. For example, “I am a support for people who communicate effectively to make the world a more harmonious place.”
5. Experience – What are you an expert in? This is still aimed at the business owner, but it is more related to the work that he is doing. What experience do you (and should your team) have that will drive the business forward? An example might be: “I am an expert in beautifying people.” This experience will be used in the business and in the brand.
6. Brand values – Identify the brand promise you are making to the market you serve. This is the promise of an experience they can expect when working with you, regardless of product or service. What values are necessary to deliver that consistent experience? As an example, consider the Four Seasons hotels and the experience you have there, whether you’re staying in a suite or simply dining at the bar.
7. Target niche – Who specifically is your ideal client? Pick as narrow a niche as possible so your marketing can be very targeted and targeted. This is not meant to drive people away, but rather to give you as clear a picture as possible of the customer or customer who is best served for what you have to offer and your experience. These are the people you should talk to in your messages, as they will be more likely to engage.
8. Products/Services – Define and describe exactly what you are offering to your niche audience. What products or services does your company offer and why? What is the intention of each? What results should customers expect from what you offer? What differentiates your products and services from other similar ones in the market?
9. Marketing and Sales – Provide details of how you will market your products and services and what your sales process will look like. Regular attention should be paid to the optimal ways to reach your audience and convert them into paying customers. Identify mechanisms to track what works and what doesn’t. Great communication and consistent branding are key here.
10. Delivery system – How will customers receive the products or services offered? From start to finish, it pays to design and implement good systems for efficient and high-quality product/service delivery. Consider itemizing this for each service or product category.
11.Operations – What are the front and back office activities that make the organization run smoothly and efficiently? Who are the players? There is a flow of production, communication, information, transaction and monitoring that happens in every business. Design the best operating systems for each area of your business and document the desired flow and equipment needed to make it work.
12. Prices – Identify pricing structures for your goods and services that cover costs and provide reasonable profit margins. This requires you to research the cost structure of your business in all areas, as well as understand the range of comparable prices in the market.
13. Financial Goals/Monitoring – Every business should have financial goals to strive for and ways to track key financial goals. Identify five to ten key revenue drivers and set up tracking and reporting mechanisms to see where you’re going and if your strategies are paying off.
14. Personnel/Equipment – Whatever your current size, plan what your organization chart will look like when you reach your goals. In your vision of the future, how many people work in the organization and in what capacities? Put a value on your time as a business owner. If you can hire someone for less than their time’s worth, you want to work to that end. Continue that analysis throughout the organization. Prioritize future hires and plan how delegation can take the business to new levels of growth.
A plan, written in this way, will automatically combine critical elements of the mindset with more practical business strategies. This gives you a solid foundation from which to build. It is your best opportunity to build a solid and sustainable business. At that point, you’ll be rewarded with the opportunity to add those creative details not shown on the floor plan.
