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Business
Plans- What Consultants Don’t tell You!
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by:
Greg Chapman
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Copyright 2005 Empower Business Solutions
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.
About the author:
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.comau
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