Yes, the key points to your success are vision, mission, and goals- as long as you implement. Too many people nowadays expect that thinking will make it so. Unfortunately, there’s a fair amount of work required to make our dreams a reality. And, it’s not just following a plan- we need to insure that our plans are still valid and reflect the world as it is- not how we wish it would be. Maybe this is a good time to remind you that a business plan need not be a 200 page document with graphs, tables, and appendices. Don’t confuse your planning with these formal documents one sees for enterprises hoping to get venture or government funding. Your document has to be clear in its goals and its definition of your environment (customers/clients, competition, and your company- the 3 C’s). If we have been lucky (and, occasionally, prescient) to have our plan scenarios be totally in concert with reality- then, we are golden. But, that rarely occurs. With our weekly dashboard meetings (monitoring four key areas, with “traffic signal” measurements- on target, not on target, and warning- green/red/yellow), we can determine if and where we need to change our efforts and plans to insure our (continued) success. At a minimum, your plan must contain the following:

1. Strategy- why you do (or will do) what you do.
2. Marketplace (what it is, how you will address it, any “guesses” you had to make about either- in case the plan is missing the mark, so you can more quickly address them)
3. Dates, Deadlines, Tasks, Assignments and Key Areas (to monitor on your dashboard)
4. Projected Sales and Expenses
5. Review schedule (to monitor progress and adjust effort)

As you grow your organization, you need to make sure everyone understands the goals. And, when you develop your plan of action- and you will!-  you need to make sure everyone understands the need to adjust the plan and get those changes implemented. That means a need to do something now.  (Complacency reigns when folks think things are copacetic.  False urgency is when folks know something must be done- but not what, resulting in activity without productivity.)  Moreover, key management (especially executives) must be invested and directly active in the plan and its changes.  One can’t turn the effort over to your HR or communications group and expect that team to maintain the sense of urgency.  (Of course, if you are smaller enterprise, you never had that opportunity in the first place!)

The plan for your business success is no different than the GPS in your car.  It can get you from here to there- you can tell it to avoid the highways or the byways- but you need to monitor the traffic along the way.  And, just like your need to avoid the bottlenecks, accidents, and impediments along your journey, you need to adjust and change your business plan to reflect the realities of your competition and/or your customers, as you find them.  And, just like there are speed limits and laws about changing lanes when dealing with traffic, you want to insure you adhere to your values and culture in your business dealings.

When you find yourself in that situation- requiring a change, relying on Kotter’s eight step process is useful.  (John Kotter, Harvard Business Review, wrote his treatise 15 years ago; you can purchase his book here.)   Here’s the bird’s eye view of his findings:

1. Create Urgency
2. Develop a Team to Effect the Change
3. The Changes Need a Vision (values & summary- an “elevator pitch”)
4. Express and Communicate the Vision
5. Insure Clear Sailing Within Your Organization (primarily people)
6. Identify and Communicate the Short-Term Wins Along the Way  (that means find them first!)
7. Build on the Changes- “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow”
8. Embed These Changes into the Corporate Culture

Remember- you can’t reach the destination without a clear definition of the goals.  You have to monitor your progress and adjust the plan as you go.  May all your traffic lights be green!

Here are some business plans.  You can use these to make sure you have at least considered all the issues. 

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