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If you want to be successful in life – we need to have a business plan.

What happens if we don’t plan?

Have you ever just got into a car on a fine morning and just gone for a drive, unsure where you are headed. I have – at times I have ended up at the beach or the river, or occassionally with a friend even for an impulsive weekend away. This is great as a change and anyone who has ever done this I am sure appreciates time out to smell the roses and escape the busy-ness of our daily lives.

However for our lives or especially for our business we need to know where we are going to get there. This sounds simple yet many people go into business without a plan. They advertise in ways that they have seen others do and plod along hoping for the best or worse yet – starting and going with the flow literally until they are either flat out doing the business with no time to manage the business, or they make little or no money.

We need a plan.

In countries such as Australia and the United States there are numerous services available to help with this – some are listed on the Resource Page.

Even the most simple plan covers the basics:

What – What is your business? What are your products or services? What is your competitive edge?

When – When do you need to prepare your accounts? How often? Tax responsibilities… When do you plan to achieve your smaller – shorter term goals? When do you plan to achieve your longer term goals?

Where – Where are your premises? Where should you be advertising to suit your market?

Who – Who is your target market? Who are your competitors?

Why – Why are you in business? This is extremely important – the purposes – not only professional but personal. Without a vision the people perish. Without a vision for your business, it will more than likely disintegrate! Personal reasons must be visible. It does not matter what the goals are as long as you have an emotional connection to the purposes. This could be ‘so my wife can come home to look after the kids.’ or ‘so I can pay off my debts.’ or ‘so I can buy that house I have been looking at for the last two years.’

How – policies, procedures, and the strategies for your business to succeed.

All plans should be reviewed regularly to see if they are working.

Read about successful role models. Even get a mentor.

Better business strategies – see video here