Business Plans Are Nothing…Business Planning Is Everything

1. Where are we? The plan should clearly define the financial, environmental, and market realities facing the business. This should not be addressed in the overly of technical language an MBA, but rather with straightforward words that uncompromisingly define the business’s health and competitive position. It is imperative that the plan has its foundation in what is real, not in something once assumed or “hoped for.” Someone reading this section of the plan should, with clarity, understand the strengths and weaknesses of the business and have a sense of the company’s potential given the current reality.

Hint: The best way to lose any enthusiasm in your business plan is to make this section a complex, statistics-heavy, death-by-numbers dissertation. Readers care nothing about your plunging ROI, but care intensely about what that means to your business. Use only those financial matrices — pick three to five — that truly explain how your business is performing.

2. Where are we going? The plan should spell out the intentions for the business in the coming years; what does the organization want to accomplish? This section of the plan is a statement of business aspiration, balanced with the reality set forth in section one of the plan. This creates a reasonable prediction of the momentum needed to achieve the business’s future goals. It is folly, for example, to state an aspiration that is no more than a pipe dream. Blind hope is an irresponsible strategy, and aspirations need to be tied to reality. This section of the plan allows the reader to understand the potential of the business in three ways:
 

• Financially: Why should someone invest in us?
• Externally: Why should clients and prospects do businesses with us?
• Internally: Why should employees work here?

Hint: Abstract vision statements are as credible as Britney Spears speaking at a parenting conference. The best plans are insightful because they balance bold market aspirations with commonsense business acumen.

3. How will we get there? The plan should set forth the imperatives of the business, the tasks that are absolutely non-negotiable in terms of achieving success. By definition, this section not only defines a critical path for the business, but it also identifies the important but non-essential objectives. By doing this, leaders define where they are willing to fail in order to secure the critical path. The plan sets a context for decision making around competing goals — for example, delaying an important product launch in order to ensure an imperative goal of achieving bottom line results. After reading this section of the plan, the reader should know not only what keeps the leaders of the business up at night (i.e., achieving their imperatives), but also what lengths they are willing to go to for a good night’s sleep.

Hint: Want to break down organizational silos? Make sure each employee knows where his or her job fits within the critical path outlined in this section because if that’s not clear to a given employee, he or she is not fully a part of the team.

4. Are we on track? The plan needs to define what success looks like and how it is measured. The plan should clearly define who is accountable for which measure, when measurements will be taken (e.g., monthly, quarterly, etc.), and the corrective actions to be taken in the event of a deviation from the plan. A sure way to add frustration to your life is to create a business plan that sits on the shelf unopened and expires after just one year. The best business plans are evergreen; they are constantly referenced and regularly amended. You should understand how success is defined and measured.

Hint: This section should flow directly into the formulation of team and individual goal documents. It provides a uniform template that ensures that everyone has goals and measures aligned to organizational vitality.