| If you have worked hard to prepare a great business | | | | your competitors will allow you to adjust your |
| plan make it work hard for you in return with these six | | | | strategies according to any new initiatives they may |
| steps to avoiding silly mistakes. | | | | have. This is another important reason to review the |
| 1: Death of a Plan | | | | plan regularly. |
| All of your careful planning and analysis will come to | | | | 4: Smarter not Harder |
| nothing, if you work hard on your 'business plan' in | | | | If your business plan relies too heavily on 'new' |
| order to present it to your bank manager for instance | | | | proposals, consider first if what is actually needed is a |
| and then take it home and file it under 'F' for 'forgotten'. | | | | better way of executing the existing strategies. |
| Only by up-dating your plan regularly and reassessing | | | | 5: Assess all Risk |
| its contents can you prevent it from becoming | | | | It is vital to accept the potential for failure and not to |
| obsolete. | | | | ignore the risk involved; your business plan should |
| 2: Be Realistic | | | | thoroughly examine the risk and should take into |
| Far too many businesses let over-optimism skew | | | | account the cost of any failure. |
| predicted sales or turn-over and focus only on the | | | | 6: Vane or Sane? |
| strengths and opportunities during their SWOT analysis, | | | | Turnover is vanity, but profit is sanity? Any planned |
| rather than truly considering all of the Threats and | | | | expansion of your business should result in increased |
| Weaknesses too. It is important to be honest with | | | | profit not just a higher turnover; your business plan |
| yourself and keep a check on over-optimistic | | | | should have taken into account all extra recourses |
| predictions. | | | | needed for development. A successful business plan |
| 3: Remember your Competitors | | | | means a winning strategy for your business, and it is |
| A common planning error often made is that of | | | | only through such a strong approach that you can |
| ignoring any competition; making a careful study of | | | | move forward into a successful business future. |