In the past 5 articles I have described many different activities that could all be categorized under Business Planning and keep telling you that it is a practice not a once off activity. To keep on top of it all and make business planning an ongoing (not overwhelming) activity, having a schedule to work by is the best approach.
For your plan to become a useful document it should become a guide that you refer to as you run your business. It is important that smaller actions and tasks are taken from the plan and are transferred into your weekly and monthly activities. You should refer back to it and measure your progress against the targets and strategies that are described. Plan to review it every year.
Below is an overview of a business review and planning schedule that you should follow; you will tailor this for your business, but whatever schedule you create, stick to it! It is a good idea to create your own ‘board’ of interested and experienced people who can review your progress with you.
| Schedule | What to do |
| Annual |
|
| Monthly |
|
| Daily, weekly |
|
It’s all about action
When you finish your business plan, your business won’t be ‘finished’ and you will also have business building tasks to do that you identified in your plan. Create a list to make sure those things happen, with deadlines, such as the example shown below.
I hope at the end of this series that you genuinely want business planning to be a part of your business.
Small, fast growing and entrepreneurial businesses are my passion. I like to write business plans for them, grow them, advise them and write about them. My experience now spans over 17 years, including 3 businesses of my own. My objective is to offer instructive, hands-on, ‘how to’ information to make business ownership easier, less stressful, more successful and more enjoyable.
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