Business Plans- What Consultants Don’t tell You!
by Empower Business Solutions
Published on this site: June 10th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
Do you have a Business Plan? Congratulations, but you are
in a small minority. And if you have a plan, is it integral
to your business, and instrumental to its growth? If the answer
to this question is yes, then you need to read no further.
However, most business owners who actually go to the trouble
to write a business plan have left it languishing on their
bottom shelf, gathering dust! This is the dirty little secret
of business consultants.
Most business consultants are only interested in selling
their time or their ‘Business Plan in a Box’ but
know that for a business plan to be useful, it has to be part
of a Business Management System. But this is a much harder
proposition for the consultant to sell, particularly to small
business owners who are just looking for a quick fix. So most
consultants just sell a quick fix solution- a business plan
that they know will, within months, end up on the bottom shelf.
Once owners have prepared their “fill in the blanks”
plan, they expect it to transform their business overnight
just by its mere existence. And because this does not happen,
they never look at it again.
Business Plans do work, but you have to make them work. It
is not a one-off exercise. If you buy a ‘Business Plan
in a Box’, you need to understand that you are responsible
for maintaining the plan. You also need to satisfy yourself
that the product you buy is not just a fill in the blanks
product. These plans always end up on the bottom shelf. They
don’t show you how to do your strategic analysis (which
is never a fill in the blanks exercise- no matter what someone
tells you).
Business Planning is a real soul searching exercise for the business
owner. You have to be brutally honest with yourself. Even if you
prepare your plan yourself (without a coach), get someone else involved
to keep you honest! Looking at examples of what others have done
can help, but your business will have different strengths and weaknesses
and will operate in a different marketplace. And lastly, make sure
any off-the-shelf product you choose will show you how to implement
your plan into your business.
When you use a consultant, insist that they show you how
the plan should be implemented into your business process.
And have the consultant give you at least one review of your
performance against your plan six months after the plan has
been delivered. While this will cost you extra, this will
ensure that your plan does not end up on the bottom shelf-
because you know you will be held to account!
Business Planning is not an easy process. It takes time and commitment.
You don’t just do it once. This is not what business owners
want to hear, and what most consultants won’t tell you, because
it might cost them a sale. But the rewards from a well implemented
business plan are worth many times your investment.
Dr Greg Chapman assists small to medium sized businesses
with business planning, business systems and marketing strategy.
To find out how you can Multiply Your Profits & Make Your Business
Run without You, and to find out How Good Your Business Really Is
with a Free Online Business Medical, go to Empower Business Solutions
website at: http://www.empowersolutions.com.au
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