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Ten Greatest Ideas for

Planning Your Business

Introduction

I am going to avoid the frequent use of the word 'strategy' in this section. All busi-
nesses have a strategy, and yours can be no exception; but we need say no more at
this stage than agree a simple definition of the word. From there we can pass on to
the much more detailed concept of building a short-term (say one- or two-year)
business plan. This will contain the basic ideas for the business, and then move to
the detailed figures that you need for a number of reasons:

• They give you the aiming point by calculating the point at which sales exceed
costs, plan for a lucky break-even Idea 17.

• They give you the data you require to survive the interview with the banker
that you will need to go through if you want to borrow now or in the future,
take the bankingforms seriously Idea 16.

• Getting down to figures is the ultimate proof that you have really thought the
thing through.

• However brilliant your idea is and you are at implementing it, you will have to
get used to talking about and dealing with numbers and money - so start now.

But we have to sail over the hurdle marked 'strategy' first. Whatever anyone tells
you, a business strategy is a statement of what you are going to sell, to whom you are
going to sell it to and how you are going to go about that selling process. If I add that
the third element 'how' will also demonstrate what you believe is, or will be, your
competitive edge or unique selling proposition, then we have said all that needs to
be said about strategy. If you want more, there is a longer, although still pretty