IV.  Business Entrepreneur Thoughts

Develop a Business Plan

Every company needs a "guiding light". The more you can define what you will accomplish the more likely you will achieve success. A business plan does not have to be 80 pages in length. Whether you manage an IT department, provide consulting services, or own your own business, you need a plan. Elements of a plan that work to help you achieve successful results include:

Mission Objectives: Define what you want to accomplish as specific as you can and build planning components that supports your mission statement.

Clients: Clearly define who your clients and prospects are. The more specific you can be the better.

Sales/Marketing: Define how you plan to sell your products and/or services. Target your efforts for greater results.

Budget: Knowing how you plan to spend and make money goes a very long way toward helping you achieve success. You will reinforce your overall objectives by putting into place a financial plan. Develop an achievable plan with room for error.

Target milestones: Set quarterly objectives to help you reach your objectives. You may find it amazing in that when you track and report results against a plan, you tend to achieve more than when you don't. Part of the reason is that the analysis and awareness that you create reinforces within your mind your true mission. It's easy to get sidetracked.

Measuring yourself or your organization against a business plan helps keep you focused on the real objectives.
Planning does not have to be difficult or complex. Keep it simple and to the point of what's truly important to accomplish your objectives. I've seen high level plans on one page of paper be very effective in multi-million dollar corporations.