getting SMART with our business plan journey...
Hello again. I'm so glad you're back. To recap, in my last post I talked about approaching the dreaded business plan as a story to be told. This story will showcase your passion for your business, the cast of characters involved and details of the plot.
Getting started
You are going to start with that oft-used but apt anagram, SMART. Please see my previous post for what that means here
Specific - keep your business plan specific to your business and industry. This stops you from waffling on about information that is not relevant to you and your business. To help you focus your thoughts consider the following questions:
- Who are the key players in the industry you want to be in?
- What makes the key players successful?
- What are the things that can trip them up down the line?
- What will you be doing differently?
- What is the proof that what you will be doing differently will make you successful?
- What is your sales target per annum? per quarter? per month? per week?
Breaking it down into specifics makes it easier for you to adapt and create actions so you achieve your goals quickly and efficiently.
Measurable - put in actual numbers as opposed to feel-good phrases that can't be measured. This allows you to make comparisons between day 1 and day 90 and year 2. So you can answer the following questions:
- Did you sell as much as you expected to?
- If not, do you know why?
- How many customers do you need to have for each product line to break even?
You are now measuring your actual performance which allows you to tweak and update your business plan, making it a breathing and evolving document.
Achievable - saying you want to make a million in the first month of your craft business might be tougher to do than someone selling software to major companies. You need to research what is really possible given your circumstances. You want to be able to have early wins so you can stay motivated to continue with your business.
Realistic - following on from achievable objectives, it is important to keep it real. Ask yourself these questions:
- Can you really become the market leader in your industry in your first quarter of business?
- Can your current staff help you achieve this without additional training or motivation?
- How will the added expense affect your bottom line?
Time specific - you need to set deadlines for accomplishing your stated goals and objectives. Having deadlines will inspire you and your staff to get things moving along quickly. You don’t want to be stuck on “opening day promotions” for 12 months. Create a deadline and stick to it.
Where you fail to meet your deadlines, do a review and identify why you weren’t able to. Is this a recurring problem? What can you do to change things? You might need to make some hard decisions. As your plan is meant to be a real document, you can explain these shortcomings to your audience, especially where you are seeking funding and these problems can be addressed by extra funds. Does that make sense?
Once you've created SMART objectives, you are now ready to start on the beginnings of a business plan that will be given to an intended audience.
Next post, we start creating an outline for our business plan. See you next time...