The dreaded words of “Business Planning” makes strong people shudder and the weak run in terror. Yes, I may be exaggerating but not by much. A majority of people get themselves into routines and comfort zones and the thought of breaking that routine to conduct business planning is not what most of us want to do.
Why? Why do those two words cause us such dismay? It does, because it is a reality check. It is a time to put your thinking cap on and really explore where you are going. For some it is a scary thought. For others it is just too much out of our daily routines. Yet, if you do not plan you will not see the possibilities or the pitfalls.
So, if it is so unpleasant why do we need to conduct it? If business is good, stay the course. Why change anything. If business is not good, who has the time to stop conducting business to plan business? Just get down to it, right?
So why do it when there seems to be so little time and everything moves so quickly. The reasons are simple:
ü To set a direction with targets. Life is full of distractions and you must keep focus on where you are going or the side roads will take you off course.
ü To ensure you and your team make the right decisions for your day to day business. Everyday we are faced with decisions that may be small or large, but that slows us down as we decide which answer is right. With a plan, it makes the choices obvious. Are they congruent with the plan or not?
ü To fully engage your best people, whether they are in management or in your mail room. If you include them in the business planning process, the people who will make a positive difference in your business will jump on board your business’ bus fully engaged and energized.
I have seen first hand what happens when you do not have a plan for your business. You continue to stay in that rut called the comfort zone and you eventually get passed by your competition. Business planning is not for the senior management alone. It is not for “big businesses” only. It is for anyone who wants to find success.
For a simple business planning process that includes your entire team and engages your best people, I recommend Results.com. They have put together a simplified business planning process that is not only easy to put together but easy for your team to understand and measure.