Its January 2004.

Do you know where your business is headed?

If you are among those who make annual business plan development a priority, give yourself a hearty pat on the back. The truth is that having a business plan occurs to many as something that gets done when you have the extra time, but guess what? We never have the extra time So why bother?

A business plan and its development make it possible to:

  • See what you don't know about the plan you are writing

  • See where your company has been in the past and where it stands currently

  • Set up your long-term goals and create a plan for reaching them

  • Set concrete objectives

  • Evaluate & build your team; including who is going to hold you accountable for following your plan

  • Re-evaluate market conditions

  • Be present to the actual fiscal standing of your company

And as you follow your business plan, ultimately you will begin to find that you have more time more time for additional business, more time for family, friends and community, more time for yourself!
The following are tips for turning the proverbial mountain of Business Plan development into a molehill and planning a successful 2004!

  1. Develop your business plan section-by-section.By focusing on one area at a time (i.e. historical data, market analysis, key personnel, etc.), you eliminate any overwhelm one might feel when considering all of the parts necessary for completing the plan as a whole.

  2. Enlist the help of your team. Delegate, delegate, delegate! This cannot be stressed enough. Delegate where possible. By enrolling your team in the development of the company's business plan you not only get help in completing the plan, but your team will have ownership in the plan and more readily follow it.

  3. Have fun. Consider this What would it be like to design and create the business you want for yourself? I'm not talking about the business you, your father, or your employees think you ought to have. I'm talking about what you want! Oh, the possibilities

  4. Enroll your team and/or coach in holding you accountable for following your plan. There are those people out there (you know who you are) who develop their company's business plan, expect it to implement itself from the file it has been stored in, and then wonder why the year did not go as planned. This is why you need to request that your team and/or coach hold you accountable for following the plan and give them full-out permission to do so.

In the end, business plan development is about your commitment to your success and being held accountable for what you say you want for your company and how you are going to get it. It is that simple commitment and accountability with "by when's".

Also, remember to have FUN designing the plan for getting what YOU want! After all, there is no fun prison, and in order to get you started on the road to greater success, you may access a basic and simple outline for the development of your business plan at http://www.cjenterprises.com/resources/BusPlan1.pdf

Happy planning!!!

Clay S. Nelson, the founder of Consulting Services Network LLC, and his team are committed to putting fun, family and financial freedom into everyones business and personallives. With over two decades of experience coaching business leaders in creating life balance, building teams, and writing plans, their programs are designed to alter the culturesof companies and families. They make a powerful and lasting difference with each person they meet, every group they speak with, and with every client they serve.

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