If you fail to plan, you do risk planning to fail! To avoid that will require you to identify the main issues & trends, salient data, limiting factors, key variables and future objectives – in essence, everything that may have a bearing on your business plan (BP). These ingredients must be marshalled, taking advice as to ‘format, financials & funding’ (FFF) as distinct from the core content regarding products, services and markets, which you must own.

There are checklists available to help you prepare a plan in draft, using your headline inputs informed by suggestions as to FFF. While in production, we suggest that you run your business using the draft plan as a working blueprint, while refining it in line with actual results and planned developments, as these become better defined. 

If you allow the plan to evolve into a filter for major decisions, you are less likely to go off plan. Also, it is crucial to set objectives using smart criteria (specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic & timelined). Don’t fudge missed targets, and do update the BP to reflect their impact.

Value the process as much as the results it depicts. This is about planning rather than plan. Ensure that the core assumptions and objectives are regularly reviewed. Major performance variations must be reflected back into the process to avoid that process becoming ineffective.

Preparation, planning and review processes are vital; plans that are subject to external scrutiny and regular updating will be more credible and more likely to convince sceptical funders and investors. With many of the factors that drive results becoming less predictable, effective business planning is essential for survival in today’s challenging economic climate.