IQ-Magazine-Issue-11

IQ business planning
length to something like War and
Peace. This is not the case and often
the best business plans are those that
are succinct in their content, as they
are easier to communicate and act
upon.
Another major shortfall in a lot of
business plans is the mediocrity of
the plan and the lack of vision or
step change. Whilst there may be
inherit resistance to change, it is often
transformational change and change
that takes us outside of our comfort
zone that brings about the desired
results that most business plans need
to achieve.
The development of most business
plans is limited by the ideas, thoughts
and visions of those charged with
producing them. Though perhaps by
engaging with others who are not in
the business and adopting a different
approach to the plan formulation
your plan can surpass your own
expectations, and also make it a more
stimulating process to go through.
Depending on your preference there are many
different ways to approach or start your planning
exercise. These could include any of the following:-
Scenario Planning
By considering or hypothesising over future events and
how they could impact on your business, you can take
a viewpoint on what you may or may not want to do
in the future. Given for example we are approaching
an election year, you may want to consider the impact
of a change of government. Closer to your business,
you may want to consider the impact that the loss of a
key customer or supplier may have, or the threat of a
competitor entering you market or even your product
or process becoming obsolete.
What do you want
from the business?
It is often the case that business people find themselves
running a business which is not necessarily the one they
either set out to run or even enjoy or want to run today.
For such people, the planning exercise is likely to major on
getting back to basics in terms of what they want and in
some cases this may result in a decision to scale down, scale
up or even sell.
Sustainability Planning
The sense is, not least pre-recession, that business,
like some people’s approach to life was ‘live for today’
with business owners and manages focusing on short-term
financial gains. There does however seem to be a new order,
with a growing number of businesses that are increasingly
concerned about ensuring they continue to be in business
and that they can derive income and financial return for
a longer-term future. This is an approach which requires
planning to focus on what you need to do to ensure you
have both a market in the future as well as the capabilities,
resources and capacity to service it.
Re-acquainting Yourself
With Your customers needs
All too often it is the case that businesses believe they
are providing their customers with products or services
that fulfil their needs, but invariably and not least over
time, this may not be the case. Customer needs are
constantly changing and typically many suppliers are
too complacent, and they fail to keep up with changing
customer needs. Certainly getting back to basics and
speaking to long standing, new and potential customers
can be a great driver for developing any business plan.
These are just some ideas on a fresh approach to the business plan. Ultimately though, the success of any plan is down
to its implementation. Therefore, whatever approach you decide to take to its creation, ensuring a clear, accountable and
measurable timescale of delivery is essential to avoid the great failure to implement.
issue 11 | page 17