“What gets attended to gets done.” That quote, whom I don’t know who said by the way, was stenciled on the walls of the company for which I use to work. Every day I would walk past that quote and it would glare at me.
All my life, I’ve been a list girl. If I wanted to make sure I got it done, it had to be on my list so that I could consciously check it off. And you know what, I always got done what I took the time to attend to by writing it down.
When I became an entrepreneur, that little quote really took on new life for me. You see, if you write it down, your chances of actually completing it are increased. And even though I knew that, when I first left my job, I lost all sense and sensibility around the importance of planning and implementation. Honestly, when I started Incredible One, I didn’t take the time to plan. I knew I couldn’t fail so what would be the use in planning?
Are you reading this foolery?! Yup, I truly thought and believed that and my business building success showed it. I was hired by no one. No one sought me out. And I honestly attributed that to the fact that I hadn’t attended to what I wanted to get done in my own business. I stopped giving my business the same respect I gave my job. Sure, I’d done it when I was an employee, but now that I was on my own, I would rely on my creativity.
Big mistake.
That is exactly why when I saw Sheila’s question this week, I had to address it on Incredible Factor® TV. And Sheila writes:
“Hi Darnyelle. I am seriously thinking about starting a business but everywhere I turn and everyone I share my ideas with keep telling me to write a business plan. But I HATE to write. My question to you is do I REALLY need a business plan?”
To hear what I shared with Sheila, watch this week’s episode now.
Did you catch my tweet-able moment: In fact if you aren’t willing to plan for it, you have no business starting it. @darnyellejervey
(Go ahead, tweet it, you know you want to!)
And honestly, this tweet applies to much more than just writing a business plan. It applies to life, relationships, vacations, you name it, it can apply. But then, so can planning and implementation.
Like I shared in this week’s episode, if you want to succeed, you should plan for it. And here are the four components of your business plan that are important no matter whether you are self-funding or seeking funding for your business:
- Management and Organizational Plan – this will describe how you plan to manage and run your business with fiscal responsibility. Who will be on your team (I will share more about this in a future episode of IFTV.)
- Product/Service Plan – this will describe your product and service offerings based on the business concept that you created which will solve a top of mind problem for your ideal audience. It will include how you plan to deliver the service and how often.
- Marketing Plan – this will describe who you plan to attract and how you plan to do it in a systematic way so that you can quickly fill your business with ideal clients and customers.
- Financial Plan – this will describe how you plan to get your business to profitability as quickly as possible.
If you take the time to create a business building road map (i.e. business plan) that focuses on these four components, your business building success will far exceed those who decide they don’t really need one. And let me add that a good business plan is a living document – which means you review it more than just once a year….
So, like I started my response to Sheila in the episode, you only REALLY need a business plan if you REALLY want to succeed in your business.
So what say you? What’s your two cents? Did you write a business plan? If so, when was the last time you referred to it? What did writing the business plan do for your business? If you didn’t, why didn’t you? How has your success been hampered because you don’t have a plan to follow? What advice, if any, can you offer to Sheila?
I can’t wait to hear from you. Be sure to leave us a comment below.
And you can get a great business plan template from www.sba.gov to help guide you on the path to building a life and business that brings you joy!!
©2013 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Speaker, Business Coach and Marketing Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises.com, Incredible Factor University® the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System® a proven step-by-step program for more clients, more income and more leverage in your business. For more information and a FREE audio CD “7 Critical Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid When Unleashing Your Incredible Factor So You Attract More Clients, Make More Money and Gain More Leverage” just fill out the form below.
