Small Business Plans
What can be said about business plans for small business, that those in the know haven’t said already? Simply this – if you have a small business you NEED a business plan.
If you’re still one of those owners who are so tied up in the manufacturing or selling phase of your business, I have some bad news for you. You are only an employee, and not an owner. A small business owner should try and get himself separated from the process and only manage the process, not be so involved in the process that he never gets time to do some actual business planning.
The chicken or the egg?
This really creates a catch 22 situation for most small business owners – never knowing how to find the balance between working IN your business and working your business. Fact is, not all small business owners can only work their business – some of them ARE the business such as the plumber or the dentist. So they have to either do the management themselves or outsource it.
So how does one find the balance between the two then?
It all depends on PLANNING – where do you want the business to be in 2-5 years time? Do you still want to be the only dentist, or would you rather have a dental clinic which you own and manage and have 5 dentists working “for you”.
If your answer is the first one, then always expect to work IN your business, but then you need to outsource a lot of functions that an owner/manager would usually take care of. You can outsource your debtors and creditors or whole accounts dept, you can outsource your staff (reception etc). You can appoint a business or management consultant to help with management functions and many more.
It all comes down to your own goals and targets and did you plan and prepare according to your business plan. So, it basically comes full circle.
All small businesses need business plans, no matter how small or what their future planning is, a business plan is a must.
