The Seven Deadly Sins of Writing a Business Plan

This is the 5th article in the series "Business Plan forand to capture creativity, and experience regardless of
Small and Mid-Sized companies". After beingwhere it comes from.
associated with creating, developing and writing3. Sacred Cows, Not invented here.
business and marketing plans for 30 years, I haveThis issue is easily the most sensitive problem and
codified the critical problems and pitfalls involved inpitfall. I recall spending many hours with planning teams
Business Plan development. Hopefully, exposing themskirting or dancing around a specific issue because
to the light of day will help small business CEO fromeverybody knew that the CEO or a top person
avoiding these critical issues. Although each of thewanted things done a certain way and therefore that
preceding articles has briefly touched upon a numberSACRED COW was stifling creativity and forward
of these issues, they have been formalized andmovement. As an outsider, I could raise the question
expanded upon here.why? why? And ease the situation. Because we
To set the stage here is my Business Planning"always did it this way" is no longer acceptable or
Overview:advisable. Similar intervention is required when "we
I believe that Planning is a basic organic function ofcan't do it that way because or that's a stupid idea,
management which requires leadership. Planning is aetc. the CEO must be overly aware and sensitive to
mental process of thinking through what is desired andthese sticky problems and be confident enough to
how it will be achieved. Planning is a process whichintervene in a decisive manner. I've seen a few CEO
can identify the most promising opportunities. Plans, onsacred cows destroyed with a dose of hearty
the other hand are commitments to specific courseslaughter and relief by the other senior managers. In
of action growing out of planning. It will outline how tothese tough economic times, you can't afford those old
successfully capture these opportunities or maintainways of doing business
the desired position. The Plan defines the goals,4. Get in Line and Jump the turnstile:
principles, procedures and methods that will determineThe Eight Step Business Plan Process I have used
the desired position.and advocated for years is sequential and cotinuous.
A Plan is:Each step is structured to build upon the solid
- A process by which management can identify itsfoundation of thinking encapsulated in the previous
most promising opportunities.step. Invariably there is le a team member which
- It will outline how to capture these opportunities orwants to jump out of sequence a and has the answer,
maintain its desired positionand is not patient to go through the information and the
- A continuous Process - not as one-shot activitythinking. In my experience this is generally a younger
- A communications tool which integrates all activitiesteam member or in a fast paced line position, perhaps
of the business's activities with it.sales, etc. I find this to be the case when the member
- A specification as to who will do what (responsibility),wants to jump from the Situation Audit (fact gathering)
where, when and how (authority) to accomplish theand immediately determine Objectives skirting the
organizations goals in the most efficient mannermost critical step (in my view) a detailed WOTSUP
(accountability)Analysis the identification of Weaknesses
Problems, Pitfalls and Deadly SinsOpportunities Threats and Strengths underlying
And here they are....planning. The Objectives are methodically set to
1. Insufficient Preparation and lack of seniorovercome Threats and capitalize on Strengths and on
management commitmentOpportunities. A brief explanation generally puts things
2. Who's starting and in the Lineupback on track.
3. Sacred Cows, Not Invented here5. Data Over and Under Kill
4. Get in Line and jumping the turnstiles.As mentioned previously it is essentially work with
5. Data over and under killmanagers from both line and staff operations in the
6. Dropping the bomb on operationspreparatory phases so that information and data
7. Post partum bluescollection can be prepared in an m accurate,
1. Insufficient Preparation and lack of seniorcomprehensive and timely manner. By the same token
Management commitmentbe careful not to request data sets when the cost of
I saved the best or worst for first. It is ESSENTIALdata acquisition far exceeds the value to which the
that Senior Management be fully committed to thedata will be used and decisions mad. A cost benefit
Specific Planning Process about to be undertaken Ievolution will generally do the trick; beware of primary
have witnessed CEOs talk about the planning processresearch when secondary and public sources can be
in ivory tower terms but not ready to commit seniorused and approximated. Your senior people will have
management and/or the time and resources"rules of thumb" that can save the day.
necessary to undertake the process.6. Dropping the Bomb on Operations
The responsible senior executive must assure thatI examined this problem in the last article. Operations
those involved in the planning process be fully trainedstaffs are generally tasked with Plan implementation.
and conversant with the steps, process and timetableAs such it is essential that they be included throughout
and expected results. Generally, this requires a seriesthe planning process to prevent surprises,
of preplanning sessions to assure that there are noinconsistencies, quality issues etc when the process is
surprises or unrealistic expectations in the process.complete. This goes without saying but I have seen
Each of the participants should "clear the decks" anddisasters, particularly when new product introductions
be fully focused on the effort.come down and there is a "mess" because a group
Of course, reality rears its head and contingencieswas left out of the loop.
have to be anticipated in dealing with "crises issues'7. Postpartum Blues
developing and the Planning Team's integrity andAll too often, in a different context entirely, I've seen
efforts.companies prepare elaborate bound volumes of plans;
2. Who's starting and in the Lineupdistribute them to Boards of Directors, Bankers and
The CEO should determine the makeup of theLawyers and display them in "desk drawers"; instead
Planning Team. I strongly urge that the functional headsof living with them on a daily basis. Becoming the
of Line, staff and Operations functions be included forbusiness road map and judiciously updating them and
their unique perspective, expertise and experience. andmeasuring performance against plan and be willing to
because their units will be entrusted with planmodify and examine each element with determined
implementation.flexibility depending on market and competitive
Of course, all organizations have their mavericks, theirconditions. Only then will the organization is prepared to
"politics" and those on the "outs". A wise CEO willcapitalize on the Business Plan taking them to the Next
make every effort to include all to forge a consensusLevel.