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Category:
Published: July 2006
Whether we are planning to build a new deck in our backyard, try a new Veal Oscar recipe, or open a new business, we must have a plan. When constructing a home, the first thing that we need is an architectural plan in order to ensure that the building is safe and structurally sound. I don't know a single prospective homeowner who would agree to finance the construction of a house without a blueprint, cost estimate and faith in the construction team. Yet many new business owners do just that when starting up. They do not have a set of guide points necessary to help them through their difficult journey and most of them wind up bankrupt. According to the SBA, 90% of all new businesses fail in the first three years. They attribute that to poor planning, a lack of start-up capital and inexperienced management.
The businesses that prepared and implemented the following were successful:
- Business Plan
- Financial Plan
- Market Strategy
- Management by professionals
After years of teaching life planning, I have found a few quotes that sum up the importance of a balanced planning stage.
"When your strategy is deep and far-reaching, then what you gain by your calculations is much, so you can achieve victory before you ever fight. When your strategy is shallow and near-sighted, then what you gain by your calculations is little, so you lose before you do battle."
- Sun Tzu, the Art of War
Planning prior to and while you are operating your business is critical for a business to be successful. A business without a plan is like a ship without the rudder, aimlessly wandering without direction and doomed to crash.
Our time management is critical for our survival. From the moment we are inspired towards a goal we must seek to ensure that we invest our time wisely. We should invest our time and not spend it. An investment yields a return. Time spent is wasteful.
"He who every morning plans the transaction of the day, and follows out that plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the maze of the most busy life. But where no plan is laid, where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidence, chaos will soon reign."
- Victor Hugo (1802-1945)
A dream without a plan to implement it is a dream wasted. But over planning can also destroy a dream and cast it into darkness forever while the bank makes its final decision to fund it.
"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan next week."
- George Patton (1885-1945)
But we have seen what happens when we rush into a plan, and we must have seen when others procrastinate and never implement their plan. It takes courage, wisdom and balance to be successful in our planning process. Not everyone is born to be a business owner. Not everyone has the determination, stamina and abilities to be a successful business owner. But we must try to succeed.
"The miracle or the power that elevates a few is to be found in their industry, application and perseverance under the promise of a brave and determined spirit."
- Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Examples of this planning can be found throughout this magazine, with entrepreneurs, college presidents, buffet enthusiasts and others who have achieved success through their attention to detail, successful planning and indomitable spirit.
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