95-97% of all businesses don’t have a strategic operating plan. And the SBA lists lack of planning as one of the top reasons for business failure.
The good news is that if you create an operating plan for YOUR business, you’ll give yourself a serious competitive advantage!
Not to mention… how nice would it be to know that what you’re working on today and this week is exactly what you need to be working on to drive your business to the next profit level? And wouldn’t it be nice to feel confident that the decisions you make today are moving the needle in the direction you want it to go?
Having an operating plan for your business doesn’t mean that you’re bound to the plan—it just means you have peace of mind knowing that you and your team are always working on activities that’ll accomplish the right goals.
Fortunately, an operating plan for your business doesn’t require a complicated, long and drawn-out process to create. Nor does it have to be a long, multi-page document. What we’re talking about is an operating plan for your business that’ practical, can be put together in less than 1 day, and can be captured on 1 page..
How to make a 1-page operating plan for your business
Start by downloading our 1-page operating plan template. Then follow these 4 steps to a simple operating plan for your business… a plan that covers every aspect of your business and that guides your annual, quarterly, weekly and even daily activities and decisions. (To keep it simple, we’re skipping the SWOT analysis in these 4 steps but, feel free to complete it):
- Start by thinking through where you want your business—and your personal life—to be in 10-30 years (depending on your age). List a few characteristics and goals.
- Then create goals for each year that will insure you get where you want to be. These could be profit, sales, expense, and expansion goals, for example.
- Next, set 3-4 goals for the coming 12 months and then break them down into quarterly goals.
- Finally, take the next quarter’s goals and break them down into a list of weekly activities. List who will accomplish each and by when.
Share the operating plan for your business with your whole team
While you’re creating it, we encourage you to share the plan with your team. Your chances of meeting your goals increase greatly when others have input. And when everyone knows where you’re going, suddenly, you don’t have to be the only one who knows what the goals are and the one with all the answers. When they’re singing out of the same proverbial hymnal that you are, your team can make decisions they couldn’t make before.
For next-to-nothing, we’ll help you create an operating plan for your business
I invite you to join us in a 1-day group setting with other business owners who are also working on their business’ operating plans.
Our coaches will spend one-on-one time with you, ask you the right questions, and give you the advice you need to walk away with a completed 1-page business operating plan.
Please join me for the next Growth Plan Workshop…
Thur., September 27, 2018, 9 – 3 pm
Holiday Inn Indianapolis Airport
8555 Stansted Road, Indianapolis 46241
You’ll walk away with:
- A clear picture of where you want your business to be in 10-30 years, a 3-5 year plan, a 90-day plan, & a ready-to-implement action plan to get you there
- Your 12-month goals broken into bite-size quarterly goals, monthly milestones, & weekly actions
- Strategies to build your profits right away
- A network of like-minded business owners
To your business and personal dreams.
