van-tage (n)
1 a. An advantage in a competition
or conflict; superiority.
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1 a. An advantage in a competition or conflict; superiority.
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Why are we here? No this is not a truly philosophical (and rhetorical) question - but it should stimulate some thought along the lines of ... Why am I here? What sort of a business am I running? What do I want to achieve? What am I going to be doing in 5 years or 10 years time? I expect that by now half the people who started to read this article will have given up - which is a shame because they are probably most in need of some time to reflect on their business! It is a bit of an old fashioned and corny thing to say but the business leader should spend more time thinking and planning and less time doing. For most businesses the thinking and planning stage is either missed out or is something you are going to do when you get round to it ... and guess what you never get round to it. For those that do prepare a business plan it is usually to justify a loan application and is then shoved in a drawer and forgotten. Which is almost as bad as never preparing one in the first place. A business plan is not just a cash flow! It should include a cash flow but of greater importance is the narrative content of the plan. Some businesses prepare a very formal business plan, for others it is just a couple of pages - but whatever you do ...do prepare one. And then go back and review and update it at least once a year. The main point of a business plan is not to prepare it but to use it! Once you have a plan - however informal or complex - you have a way of saying ‘this is what I am trying to achieve’. Then compare what you are actually doing and work out if what you are actually doing is going to get you there, or if you need to change what you are doing. To give you a simile, your business plan is like a set of road directions - if you have a good set of directions you will get to your destination quicker. So do yourself, and your business, a favour and spend some time thinking and planning and write or update your business plan - give yourself a new road map for your business! |
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