This is the first in a series titled, "How to Ruin Your Business and Destroy Your Dreams!" I originally presented this to the Chandler Chamber of Commerce. The PowerPoint is available at www.MyBusiness-Advisors.com.
Today's mistake: Do It Without a Business Plan.
Too many small business owners trying to make a success out of their businesses go forth without a business plan. When I present this to a group, I usually ask, "How many of you have a business plan? How many of you use it?" Almost invariably, the percent of the group who have a business plan and use it is about 10-20%. It is very hard to accomplish anything without a good plan.
So, the remedy here is easy: write yourself a business plan! Unless you're looking for capital/investment, you don't need to write the full-blown, 100-page business plan. What you need is four key sections:
- Sales and Marketing Plan
- Strategic Analysis
- Operations Plan
- Financial Plan
These plans will shed an important light on your business, help you really understand what it will take to make your small business a success, and lay out your action plan to get there.
If I had to boil this down into a simple piece of advice, it would be this: set goals. That is what your business plan will help you do. Set some goals, create your metrics (or key performance indicators), and track your progress.
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