Listen to Howard talk about having a business plan:
Business is about the joy you receive in making something happen – whether it’s:
- Signing your dream customer to a contract
- Making more money than you ever imagined
- Hiring a great new employee
- Having a long time customer tell you how much they enjoy working with you
- Expanding your company
- Or any other number of things that can positively impact your business.
It’s about making plans – business plans – that really work. It’s about using all your skill, intelligence, drive and ambition. It’s about working hard and having everything come together just like when you bake a cake.
To bake a cake you need to have the perfect recipe of ingredients, put the cake in the oven at the right temperature and make sure you pull it out of the oven at just the right time. When it all comes together you will have a delicious cake to enjoy. So many things go into baking a cake. If one thing goes wrong, the cake will fall apart.
What can happen when baking a cake, can also happen to your business plans.
You create an incredible business plan. You’re excited about the opportunities and success the business plan can bring to you. You know this plan you have put together is the right way to go with your business. You have the business set up in a way that makes you really happy to come to work every day. You’re doing business. Good business. The plan seems to be working. And then – it all falls apart. And you say: How did that happen?!
What happened is a normal function of business.
Business is not linear. It doesn’t go in a straight line. Business goes up and then it goes down. Business is successful; business is a struggle. Then it’s back to success again. When you have a business plan, your Plan A – this is a doable, workable, achievable plan. But you can’t just go with Plan A. For success, your business plan needs to include a Plan B. When working your business plan, you have to say to yourself: I know this is the best business plan I’ve ever had in my life. I am going to make this happen!
But what if it doesn’t happen? What if you’re wrong?
Even though you may be a smart business person, you’re still human. And humans do make mistakes. You may be in a business situation where you just didn’t get it right for some reason or another. As you look at your business plan, say to yourself, for example: This is my new marketing plan. This is my new hiring plan. This is how I am going to run my business. This is how I am going to be profitable.
Always have a backup plan. Plan B.
It’s no different than having an emergency plan. What would you do if there was no electricity? What would you do if you experienced a hurricane, an earthquake, the flood or snowstorm of the century? What would happen if you lost all your data? Do you backup your data off-site?
Every action you take has to have a corresponding secondary action so you don’t have to think about what you need to do to get yourself and your company out of difficulty. If you do this, not only will success be yours, but when there is failure – and always remember, failure is not a bad word in business. It happens to everyone at one time or another. The key is when there is failure you will turn that failure into success. All because you thought it through and had a backup or Plan B.
Always be thinking strategically in your business. Have a Plan A. Work the plan. Have a Plan B ready for when you need it. By thinking strategically, you can have the best business year ever.
Ready to think through your company’s business plan strategy?
Talk with Howard! – 888-738-1855 – Howard Lewinter guides – focuses – advises CEOs, presidents and business owners to MORE success – MORE profit and less stress.