The Case for Real Business Planning

Most small business folks could really help their individual efforts more if they learn how to build teams, lead employees better, and build new leaders from within their orgs… That means you have to work with others successfully!

Let me clarify a point before I proceed any further.  Choosing how or what form to operate in is the beauty of self-employment.  If you desire or choose to operate as a “Mom & Pop” operation with little or no team/employees that is your choice and so be it.  However, if one chooses to have multiple locations and many employees you’d better have a well defined plan of operation/execution.

What this short overview is attempting to achieve is to point out the lack of preparation most Small Business Owner/Operators fail to do; and that is adequate upfront, start-up planning.  There are a minimum of three types of planning you have to do: 1. Marketing Planning, 2. Sales and Operational Planning, and 3. Funding/Financial Planning.  They can be held in one document called a Business Plan; however they individually need a full treatment.

The fourth plan that almost never gets done until thrust upon the new owner/operator(s) is the HR and Standard Operating Procedures type of planning.  This normally is done ad hoc, driven by crisis management requirements, and governmental reporting requirements.  However, it is probably the most important leadership, vision, and regulated driven type of planning.

Finally, the last type of planning that is hardly ever done or found in a business that survives the first couple of years is Strategic Planning (SP); due to the fact that SP rests on the foundation of the previously mentioned planning types.  Small business folks by year two or three are too busy buried in day-to-day management tasks to give any additional time to SP activities; which creates its’ own set of future business survival issues.