PLANuary, February, it’s time to get business planning…
- Business Rescue Business Growth
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Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? They may be a distant memory now that January is done and dusted, but the beginning of the year is traditionally a reflective time. We all make plans, whether it’s to get fit or learn a new skill. Our desire to get things in order isn’t restricted to the purely personal, we also look to our businesses, planning out activities for the year ahead in our new diaries. At Be Rescued, the 2019 wall planner is already marked up with crucial events and activities for the year complete with colour coding. January might as well be renamed Planuary.
Interestingly, when you look at Google Trends, in the United Kingdom, the highest ‘interest over time’ recorded for the search term business planning over the past 12 months occurred during January 20 - January 26 2019 (96), February 18 - February 24 2018 (98) and March 11- March 17 2018 (100) (data from search on 30.1.19, ‘a value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term’, https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=GB). This reflects the tendency to plan at the beginning of the year and is possibly indicative of the number of people thinking about starting a new business in the spirit of New Year, New Venture.
The business plan is an essential tool whatever business you run, whether you are a sole trader or a limited company, a small enterprise or a large corporate. Without effective business planning you cannot succeed, luck will only take you so far. At Be Rescued, we specialise in helping small businesses plan effectively in order to grow. We also step in when things go wrong, developing a crisis plan to resolve any problems, helping businesses turnaround.
In the last blog, I spoke about rediscovering networking in 2018. Such is our passion for business planning at Be Rescued, that when invited to speak at a networking event, it was the obvious topic. I thought I’d share a few tips from the talk with you.
Business planning tips and tricks from Be Rescued
Any talk on business planning has to start with the obvious question:
What is a business plan?
In a nutshell, a business plan is the map that takes you where you want to be. It’s also the blueprint for your vision and helps answer any nagging doubts or worries you might have.
Your business plan is a living breathing entity and shouldn’t be consigned to a drawer once written never to be seen again. We are all planning every five minutes, things are in the pipeline or we are thinking about the bottom line. Your plan should be revisited and updated to reflect new products or services, different goals or changes in your trading environment.
A great business plan is: realistic, actionable, simple, honest and transparent, thoughtful – considers your audience and anyone working with you.
A business plan is the essential framework for both start-ups and established businesses.
7 top tips for successful business planning writing
- Your vision: Consider what it is that you want to
be or achieve, what drives you, what is your vision, what are your goals.
- Your offering: Your USP (Unique Selling Point) – what is it that you have that no one else
has? Look at your SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
- Your numbers: Work out your basic numbers (The Key
Performance Indicators). If you are in business look at factors such as your
sales and the cost of sales, your operating costs. If you are starting up,
consider elements such as your sources of capital versus your set up costs.
- Your introduction/executive summary: Should contain tips 1-3.
- The business plan: Build the plan around your audience,
starting with yourself and those working with you. Feature achievable bitesize
goals. Be jargon free. The body of the plan should holistic focusing on the operational
such product and/or services from offering to delivery, your pricing, your
tools & technology, your business finances and capital, the marketing
activities such as those all-important customer profiles and advertising and consider
the people who work with you, even if you are a sole trader working on your own
(you will have external support e.g. accountant, designer, advisors, banks,
etc.).
- Test the plan: You need to know it works. Find out
– can I cope with rapid growth or the loss of a client? Do I have a Plan B? Do
I have an exit plan? Be realistic and build flexibility into your plan.
- Go back to the beginning: Reflect on your plan and review it. Iron out any creases. This is your business plan, perfect it. Effective planning will reap rewards for your business.
NOW YOU ARE READY…MAKE IT HAPPEN
This is the route map to help you achieve your vision. Make your business plan happen. Don’t worry if it seems too much of a monumental task. There is help out there should you need it.
Be Rescued – We can help make it happen for your business
Do you need any help making your business plan happen or would you benefit from having it looked at by an expert eye?
Is your business going through difficulties and you need help to turn things around?
Be Rescued is there for the good times and the bad, can help your business grow and will work with you to help resolve any financial or business planning issues.
Business planning is a crucial part of the business lifecycle, make your business plan start working for you with support from Be Rescued. Do get in touch and we’ll take it from there.
If you have any business or financial issues that you need help with or you would like to discuss this article, please contact us on 01366 387 672