\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s time to speak of some sort of business plan.\u00a0 As a professional investor in early stage companies, I have long discounted long, detailed business plans in favor of a concise \u201cexecutive summary\u201d followed by a believable spreadsheet-based financial forecast projecting three to five years into the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yes, everything does change between drafting that plan and its successful execution.\u00a0 But flying without a map of some kind seems just plain too risky.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0[Email readers continue here…] <\/em><\/span>I recently joined the board of a company that was growing slowly, running beyond breakeven, but had not approved a plan for the current year, let alone attempted to develop one for the next.\u00a0 So the CEO had one of his own that he did not share, while the CFO had one for internal use that was never shown to the CEO or to the Board.\u00a0 No wonder the Board members wanted to dig in and find who was communicating with whom, and who was in charge of the map to the goal.\u00a0 By the way, there was no goal understood by all or agreed to by anyone.\u00a0 How do you compensate executives and all levels for successful accomplishments if there are no established steps toward the goal?\u00a0 And how do you measure a person\u2019s contribution to an unnamed goal?<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So if you have not, create a concise map for your enterprise.\u00a0 Start with a reasonable goal, usually expressed as a revenue number some number of years in the near future.\u00a0 Assess your current resources and attempt to calculate the resources needed to accomplish the goal.\u00a0 Do you need to raise money, focus spending upon only core projects that advance the company toward the goal, or bring in new management talent to make it happen?\u00a0 Write these steps down in any form for now. We\u2019ll explore a more organized approach in the next insights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s time to speak of some sort of business plan.\u00a0 As a professional investor in early stage companies, I have long discounted long, detailed business plans in favor of a concise \u201cexecutive summary\u201d followed by a believable spreadsheet-based financial … Continue reading