The Importance of Business Planning

Ever felt like you’re on a treadmill going nowhere as you do your day-to-day work? You want your business to grow, but it seems all of your efforts just maintain the status quo. In the words of the immortal Yogi Berra: “If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up someplace else.” The same is true for your business. The work you put in everyday does keep the lights on but in order to advance to the next level, you need an annual business planning process.

Reasons to establish a business plan:

• You can’t figure out which direction to go until you know where you are now.
• Progress is accidental unless you have goals and action steps defined.
• A scheduled time for goal planning and completion will help ensure it happens.
• An accountability process will almost double your probability of success.

Business planning steps

An effective business planning process includes five critical steps:

1. Review the past
2. Assess the present
3. Design your future (goal setting)
4. Create an action plan(s)
5. Schedule accountability meetings

Get going in the right direction today