How Business Plans Count!

How Business Plans Count!

This blog is designed to provide information on business planning and marketing for your company on a regular basis. The context by which you start or run a company is the first step to success. In my analysis, that context requires framing the business in a language that your people in the leadership positions understand. This will make it easier for them to buy into the plan. It’s an understanding of the company's premise, as it exists in the world. But it’s also a way in which they can see it develop while it creates a future for them. When they buy in, it must be understood by all parties…company leaders and staff alike…that there is a true personal opportunity for everyone and it is achieved through personal growth. The central leadership of the company, as well as consultants, must be involved in the practice of writing any plan to ensure the objective and empirical thought. Without the leadership's involvement there is no commitment to the plan, and the growth of the company will flounder. With this involvement you have a chance for success, as everyone is running the same race in the right direction!

Currently I manage business affairs, people and operations for two growing companies. One is a security firm and the other is an IT/design services company. As different in services as they can be, they both require business skills that are transferable. I came from the school of hard knocks, learning by my mistakes and successes. I have been working with start-ups, new ideas, creative solutions and pioneering new businesses while making money for others for years. Along the way, I was advised that I needed to focus and listen to others who were more successful than I. Trying to find my way, I looked at business from many different vantage points. I would ask myself, “How does my client have so much real estate, business, prestige and wealth?”

What I concluded was that I lacked capital. The reality, however, is that my clients did too, for the most part, when they started. I soon learned that I needed to have a strong understanding of myself, with a greater sense of insight, knowledge and a good sense for discernment of opinions and facts. I needed to understand how other people looked at problems that led to sound business judgments. A common practice I learned from them was to FOCUS and keep on track with daily goals and continue to refine them while meeting the demands of a dynamic work environment. It may sound easy, but it’s not. That is why business plans and market planning are needed…so you can hit the mark when daily business distractions may impair your direction.

Another factor is CHANGE and for me that challenges my world, as I know it. I have to evaluate the hard questions that come up daily. I have to look at my fears and weaknesses, then confront them. All of these behaviors and feelings have carried into all parts of my life. So the most difficult challenge is to CHANGE myself and to manifest those changes into the company's activities. Seeing that very one thing in my life allowed me a greater sense of my self-worth. With that very basic principle I realized that I must be responsible for myself in order to achieve certain goals and make sure each day that I am clear about those goals. It was up to others to decide to accept or disagree with me.

I have lived a life of principled beliefs, which are founded in truth, honesty and integrity. Since that time, my business life has flourished. I believe your business can flourish, too, with the right context, change, planning, focus and good values. This will enable the company to win and grow, ultimately achieving greater revenues.