Eight proven strategies for keeping your business plan on track

Proper planning is now more important than ever. Taking the time to write – and regularly review – a good business plan could be the key to helping your company come through the current downturn.

Here are eight proven strategies for making sure your business plan is a worthwhile document – one that helps guard against your company becoming just another depressing statistic.

• If a business plan’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. You need to devote time and attention to preparing a comprehensive plan. It will take at least a day – and an uninterrupted day at that, so consider setting specific time aside and producing a detailed business plan you really believe in.
• By all means write a business plan for next year – but break it down into manageable time periods. It’s essential to have monthly or quarterly targets within your business plan.
• Be Honest – if your business turned over £50,000 last year it is highly unlikely that this year’s figure will be £1m. Your business plan has to be realistic – otherwise it’s not a business plan, it’s a wish-list.
• Technology is changing ever more quickly and you need to keep up. It may be a daunting task, but it should be there in your business plan. And if social media is a part of your plan, remember it’s like any other form of marketing: you need to set targets and measure results.
• Even the best business plan is worthless if you put it in your drawer on January 1st and then forget it until December. Business plans need to be reviewed on a regular basis. That’s why monthly or quarterly targets are so important. Regular reviews give you the chance to get yourself back on track.
• You need to keep score. Identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in your business – and then measure them. It might be sales appointments, revenue or tighter credit control. You’ll know the numbers that are crucial to your business: it’s vital that they are included in your business plan and regularly monitored.
• You need to be accountable: if you’re not, it’s too easy to slip into a comfort zone. If you have fellow directors you can hold each other accountable. If you haven’t, then using a business mentor or joining a peer-support group are options worth considering.
• Finally, be adaptable. Business plans are not set in stone. Their purpose is to guide you and keep you on track; not to blinker you. Circumstances change and new opportunities will present themselves. One of the key strengths of an SME is that it can make decisions and change direction far more quickly than a big company. So keep an open mind – and if necessary, re-write your business plan.