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Business mums take note; this statement gets thrown around all the time. But what does this really mean? You hear it all the time - you must plan, plan, plan…But what does this mean.
It is a well known fact that if you do not plan for the success of your business, your small business will not achieve or survive. Planning is essential whether you are starting a new business or already operate an existing business.
But how much planning do you need to do? If you don’t do enough your business will fail to achieve its full potential but if you do too much you spend all your time planning and not enough time doing?
My advice is whatever approach you take; use the KISS approach – Keep It Simple Sweetheart
Before you can start planning you need to decide what you want to achieve. This can be a challenge for most business women as we tend not to have exact goals know and tend to say “I want to work less” or “I want to have more money”. But this is not enough, if you cannot properly define what you want how will you know when you get there.
Here is why you would benefit from having the following basic plans for your business:
- A basic Business Plan/Success Plan will help increase your chances of you succeeding in your business. It helps you to know where you are now and where you would like to be in the future. Make sure this is a working document and update it on a regular basis. Some of the vital elements of the plan consist of an overview of the business, the future plans of the business, the key business objectives and goals and business strategies.
If you are new to business completing a Business Plan will help you to work out the basics about your business.
If you have been in business for a while and already know the basics then a Success Plan is a great idea.
Why is it important
- Help you to identify your goals and establish action plans to help you to achieve your goals
- Help you to establish clear business strategies for your sales, marketing and financial
- A Marketing Plan is a plan of all the marketing activities you wish to perform over a period of time, usually 12 months. It will allow you to take your business to new highs by identifying early on where you sit in the market, who your market is and how you are going to attack the market.
Why is it important
- It helps you to evenly plan your marketing for the period of time.
- You can work out how much you will need to spend each month, thus helping you to manage your cash flow.
- It helps determine which marketing gives you the best results
- A Budget/Forecast will help you to identify all the potential income and expenditure that could relate to your business for a period of time in the future, usually 12 months. It is no good just plucking figure’s from thin air so a budget should always be prepared in conjunction with your marketing/sales strategy – how you are going to achieve these figures.
Why is it important
- It will help you to identify number of sales required, expected expenditure, breakeven point and profit or loss
- It allows you to monitor the progress of your business against your business goals
- Monitoring it on a regular basis will allow you to identify early on areas of your business that may need to be improved.
Yes, planning may be boring, and many of us want to just get on with making sales, however it is crucial if you want to succeed as a mum in business. Without it, you may as well be washing money down the drain.
A great way to plan for your success would be, if you are already a Mums in Business member to access these plans and other in depth resources on the Business Essentials website. If you are not a member why not chat to other business mums just like you on the mums in business – business discussion forum. Get your free access by going to click here where you can also discover proven, easy-to-apply strategy that mum’s just like YOU are using every day to start & grow profitable businesses!
From Alison Basson - Mums in Business, for mums and women who are serious about business
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