Is Your Business Plan On Track for

Success?

Presented by:

Linnea Blair, Advisors On Target

2012 PDCC Paint Expo

Did You Plan Your Entry Into Business?Before starting your business did you: Do research? Set out your goals?Or was it based on: Back-of-an-envelope calculations? Without benchmarks or time frames?

Why Did You Go Into Business?

Usual reasons are: Independence - being your own boss Higher income prospects A better lifestyle with more free time The personal satisfaction of taking on a

challenge Building a future for your family

Have You Achieved Your Goals?

Is the reality more like: Working long hours Stress Risks Less family time No vacations

Full responsibility Taxes Bureaucracy Bad debts Constant minor

emergencies

Is Your Business Running You?

Are you working IN the business, or ON it? Negatives are a constant feature Your business is out of control You don’t have time to look at the bigger

picture

Take Control Through Business Planning

Developing a Business Plan will develop your business management knowledge.

You will become a better manager

You will improve your chances of business success

If You Only Walk Long Enough...

Deciding on which way to go (using a strategy) depends on knowing where you want to get to (having goals)

Without a goal there is no plan for getting anywhere – you’re just doing a long walk (maybe in circles)

What We’ll Cover Today

What’s in a business plan Why every business needs a business plan How a business plan allows you to manage

Using the plan to set and achieve business goals Monitoring progress towards goals

How to prepare a business plan How to use a business plan

What’s In A Business Plan

Typical content (chapters) in a business plan: Executive Summary Industry Analysis Market Analysis Competitive Analysis Marketing Plan Management Plan Operating Plan Financial Plan Appendices And Exhibits

Don’t Only Start Ups Need A Business Plan?

A good business plan is your most important management tool

It’s an essential for both start ups AND ongoing businesses

Why Every Business Needs A Business Plan

Surviving competition and growing your business, requires that you be a good manager

Managing involves having clear objectives, understanding the market, managing your money properly, as well as producing quality products or services

Developing a business plan gives you the information you need to MANAGE your business

How A Business Plan Works

Describes your current situation - where you are now

Describes how you see the business some time in the future - where you want to get to

Describes your strategies for how you are going to get there

Sets specific goals to be reached by particular dates so you can track your progress as you go

Business Profile – Where You Are Now

Provides a big picture view of the business

Focuses on how good your business idea is or how saleable a product you actually have

Where You Are Now – Reality Check

Being forced to focus on issues provides a reality check for your business

Where Do You Want To Get To – Setting Goals

The profile section of the plan includes information on where you want to get to in the form of some specific goals

These goals are really important because they will determine your whole business strategy

Goals need to be based on a good grip on reality

How Do You Get There – Strategies

Develop strategies (tactics) to make the goals a reality This is where some really hard thinking is

necessary May need more than one strategy per goal

How Do You Get There - Milestones

A strategy is made up of a number of discrete steps

These steps are called milestones because as you get each one done you have reached another milestone towards implementing the strategy

Modeling Strategies

The same objective might be reached in a number of ways

Each way (strategy) will require different inputs and involve different costs

Developing a business plan will bring these issues to light and provide the opportunity to model out the consequences of choosing a particular strategy

Strategy - Marketing And Sales

For your business to be successful and profitable you must have a clear understanding of your customers, your product strengths and the competition

The market analysis section of a business plan examines all these things

Knowing them you can develop a detailed explanation of your sales strategy, pricing plan, proposed advertising and promotion activities, and the product or service's benefits that then becomes your marketing plan

Strategy - Finances

The Finance section of the plan includes a description of your detailed financial statements, a financial statement analysis and your funding requirements

Also includes projections that set forth the projected timing of revenues and expenses to show whether and how the business will meet its obligations to vendors and others who provide the business with goods or services

Projections can be tied directly to planned operational results

Monitoring Progress

‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’ Monitoring means setting up a process to

measure the actual outcomes of your actions against the results you had planned on happening

This takes discipline but is an essential ingredient to a successful business planning process

Monitoring Milestones

Each of those milestones you decided on should have a timeline attached – a ‘to be completed by’ date An open ended milestone isn’t worth writing

down Milestones may be scheduled to happen in a

sequence or in parallel By setting dates you can gauge your progress and

compare your projections to actual accomplishments

If a date is reached and the milestone isn’t ready then you know it and can revise the plan

Monitoring Revenue - Actual vs Planned Results

Set financial goals and budgets and regularly monitor for deviations between actual and planned results These provide clues that you can use to tweak or

fine tune certain elements of the plan

Managing Business Performance

Stop operating according to the ‘savings jar’ approach

Amount of money left over isn’t a good indicator of business viability

Only tracking how preset milestones are being reached, or not, will alert you to developing opportunities and threats

What Else Is A Business Plan Good For

Your business plan is your business’ resume and operates in the same way as a personal resume – it details your qualifications and experience to bolster the confidence of others in your capabilities, or rather those of your business, how well it is doing and what it could be capable of doing

It can come in useful for: Negotiating supplier arrangements Arranging finance

Preparing A Business Plan

Every business needs a unique plan but the basic elements are the same in all business plans and so is the basic process to create one

That process doesn’t have to be complicated and the plan needn’t be a very big document

Requires commitment to putting in the time and effort necessary to collecting the data that and thinking through your strategies

You must be objective, critical and focused when doing it

The more effort taken to collect data and formulate plans, the more beneficial and effective the business plan will be

How To Do It The basic business planning process involves these basic

steps: Obtain an accurate financial and physical outline of the business that

objectively describes the current health of your business

Describe in more detail the strengths and weaknesses of your business

Set out your personal and business goals for both the short and long term

Put in place the ‘to do’ action list which indicates when different activities need to be started and finished

You may need some assistance, like your CPA or business advisor Provide financial data

Good for putting giving reality check

Business Plans Need To Be Used

A business plan is only useful if you use it Make yours a “living” document

Planning Is A Process

Circumstances change so a business plan needs regular review

Typical triggers for review: Beginning of new financial period You need financing, or additional financing You have developed/are thinking of developing a

new product/introducing a new service Significant change in the market (e.g. shifting

customer tastes, altered regulations) Change in the scale of your business (taking on

extra team or a partner)

Conclusion While the preparation of a business plan may

not guarantee success…without one you are taking a journey with only a vague destination in mind and without a road map on how to get there

A well developed plan that documents the ‘wheres’, ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of your business will focus and direct your activity in harnessing all the necessary resources to achieve success

What’s Next?Get Handouts

(and other free tools) at

AdvisorsOnTarget.com

Click on “Member Portal”

Click on “Free Resources” under “Community”

Sign up as a free member – then log in to access

Your Business Plan – Roadmap to Success Webinar Series

5 Wednesdays in February – Business Plan Overview plus 4 In-Depth Classes on Creating a Business Plan for your business!

1. Feb 1 – Your Business Plan: Roadmap to Success (Free)2. Feb 8 – Your Business Plan: Your Business Model3. Feb 15 – Your Business Plan: Your Financial Plan4. Feb 22 – Your Business Plan: Your Marketplace5. Feb 29 – Your Business Plan: Executive Summary – plus Q&A

Session Sign up today: advisorsontarget.com/events/business-plan-

classes Investment is just $147 for all 4 sessions if you sign up before

February 1 ($197 after today)

Need help to grow a sustainable business?

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March, 2012! Find out more at AdvisorsOnTarget.com

Contact me to get your business On Target for success in 2012 and beyond!

Advisors On TargetBusiness Coaching & Marketing Consulting

Linnea Blair Office: 619.291.3700 Email: Lblair@AdvisorsOnTarget.com Web: AdvisorsOnTarget.com Twitter: AdvisorOnTarget Facebook: facebook.com/AdvisorsOnTarget LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/linneablair