Often when people come to me they want help writing a business plan because they have lost their direction and don’t really know where to go. 

  • The first question I always ask is: Do you have a business plan in place already?
  • Often they will say yes; but they cannot remember the last time they looked at it!

The plan will be sat on the shelf alongside a stack of course material in a folder from the last groundbreaking workshop they attended?

If this sounds like you, have a look at the business plan you’ve got already and ask yourself;  Did you achieve any of the business goals that you set in the last 12 months, if not why do you think that is? 

  • Are you building and growing your business strategically or are you just winging it?
  • Do you know what really needs to be done to improve and grow your business or are you just guessing and reacting to things as they happen?

If you answered yes to these last two questions, then you really need to think about how you are approaching both the day to day running and the planning of your business.

But what you don’t need are any more business plans, courses or workshops, instead you need to take action!!  

Now before you rush off making any big decisions for your business you need to take a few steps back and take some time to really get to know and understand exactly where you are right now. It is time to get some real perspective on your business position.  To do this you need to do a full in-depth analysis on your business to understand what it has got in place already and what might be missing. This way you’ll get to the true cause of some of the problems you’re facing and also why you are not where you want to be in your business right now.  

You need to have absolute clarity on what needs to be done to strengthen and improve your business and use this information to take action and move forward. 

Now you know what actions you need to take, you can decide who will do what.  For example if it’s something you need to do in your business and it’s not in your expertise I recommend outsourcing it. It doesn’t make sense to waste days going on courses to learn how to do certain things in your business when you could use that money to pay someone else to do it for you – and the right person will do a better job and include things you never even knew to think of. It often ends up saving you time and money in the long run. Focus your time and energy on the areas that you enjoy and that you are good at. 

So at this point you know your position, you have a process for what you need to do and who is going to do it.  Then all you need to do is take action to strengthen and improve your business and create the right foundations on which to build and grow your business further.  Now this all sounds very easy when it’s on paper but putting this into action can seem like a monumental task. This is where a business consultant’s support and advice can really help you accelerate your progress.

They can help you by providing an alternative perspective on your business and encourage you to think differently on how to approach things. They will help to hold you accountable for the progress and help you with some of the challenges you might face along the journey to success. 

So instead of spending 2 days writing another business plan that will sit on the shelf collecting dust or going on another workshop that you won’t implement into your business. 

I would recommend that you spend half a day really assessing your business and taking the actions you need to improve and grow it!