Do you have an operating plan for your business? If you do, you’re in the top 3-5% of business owners… 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 lack of an operating plan for your business is a common problem—which means that one of the fastest ways to give yourself a serious competitive advantage is to have a good operating plan for your business!
Fortunately, the kind of operating plan for your business that we’re talking about doesn’t require a complicated, long and drawn-out process to create. What we’re talking about is an operating plan for your business that’s straightforward… and that can be put together in a day.
How to make a simple operating plan for your business
Here are the steps to a simple operating plan for your business that covers every aspect of your business and that guides your annual, quarterly, and weekly activities and decisions:
- 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.
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 will accomplish the right goals.
We encourage you to share the operating plan for your business with your team. Your chances of meeting your goals increase greatly when everyone knows where you’re going. Suddenly, you don’t have to be the only one who knows what the goals are, the one who has 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.
I invite you to set aside 1 day and join me and your peers to create an operating plan for your business. If you give yourself the time, I’ll give you the tools, ask you the right questions, and give you the advice you need to walk away with a complete 1-page business operating plan. Please join me for the next Growth Plan Workshop…
Thur., Sept. 28, 2017, 9 – 4 pm
Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Airport, 8910 Hatfield Dr., Indianapolis 46231
REGISTER HERE
Here’s what one Growth Plan Workshop attendee said, “… 1 million details transformed into clear and focused priorities.” Publishing Company Owner, Bloomington, IN
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.
