Oct 16 2007
Business Plans Are BORING… But Bankruptcy is Not Exactly a Barrel of Laughs Either
If you want to clear a room of business owners really fast, start talking about business plans. Most business owners would rather crawl across a car-park littered with broken glass than spend their time committing themselves to the hypothetical, mental gymnastics that are required.
Instead they run off to their accountants office and get them to do the grunt work required. In fact, the vast majority of business owners I know, only prepare a business plan when their bank manager demands one, usually when extending their overdraft to cover “temporary” cash flow shortages.
These documents are prepared using word processor templates and are about as interesting to read as the obituary column of a suburban newspaper. And, the bank manager doesn’t read them anyway, they only demand them as part of a banks policy to pretend to be doing their “Due Diligence”, that is to say, they are merely attempting to cover their pretentious backsides from the threat of subsequent litigation.
BUSINESS PLANS ARE ESSENTIAL
Quite simply, a business without a business plan is an accident waiting to happen. A true business plan is not a static document that is prepared in haste then thrown into the bottom of the least used drawer of your desk.
A Business plan should be a live document, it should start off as a whole lot of considered guesses, and over time (say every three months) be revisited, revised and updated.
It’s YOUR road map and YES, you personally have to be involved in its preparation, you can use your accountant to lead the process, but the future figures the real life stuff and marketing objectives, can only be provided by you.
Your business plan is the only PREDICTIVE reporting document you have to keep track of your objectives and your progress.
If the whole business planning thing scares you, or you are reluctant to start, DON’T. Work with someone you respect, turn it into a game, do it in pencil so you know from the start that it’s not some negative game of “GOTCHA that is going to embarrass you later.
It’s the same as using a road map and a watch on a journey in your car, you set off with a whole lot of intentions and assumptions, and you frequently check your progress and refine your objectives to suit the reality of your circumstances, all, so you can arrive at a predefined destination.
The following video will give you a good idea of all the stuff that should be included and why.
Video from VideoJug: Business Plans
.
… Now you have discovered us don’t lose us, Subscribe NOW in your RSS reader
.
