What is Organized planning and how does it relate to business? In these days of choice this becomes a critical factor in your marketing plans.
Your vision comes first
All planning starts with an ending. It is really where do you want to get to and how will you achieve this goal in the fastest time without breaking the business model.
A vision can be your ultimate goal, it may include any ending that you can imagine, in as big a way as you want.
Of course realistic fundamentals are included however it is usually a very stretched objective that is easy to imagine but difficult to achieve.
We all have visions of some sort that float in and out at times but this is a written vision.
Therefore It will be written in blood (or Ink if you prefer) that will take you on a journey to an ending that will be a cause to celebrate.
QQS a formula for success
One of the first times this principal came to prominence was in the 1940 book by Napoleon Hill
Think and grow rich.
It may have gone out of favor but it is becoming more true as the days pass.
| Quantity | The numbers game in writing |
| Quality | No short cuts |
| Sustainability | Or spirit of service |
Quantity
It may be a dollar figure, a place in the world, a figure to retire on or the basis of the next step.
If you want to sell a million widgets over five years you will understand that is an average of 800 for every working day.
You may grow to this figure overtime but the math are not wrong, around 251 working days in a year times 5 is a total of 1255 days into one million is 797 or a round 800.
It matters not what the figure is, it is your figure so you just need to work out how to achieve it.
However the figure must be realistic, if you can only produce 200 widgets a day your target is twenty years away.
If Your dream is to be a top 500 company you just need to turnover a couple of billion dollars and employ a hundred thousand people.
Maybe a doubling of turnover will do it for you as a reasonable idea or the current 10x formula
to success.
Quality
You may sell a million widgets if you had buyers and priced them accordingly but what would happen to the business.
You will be geared up to move 200 a month but the demand is four times that so your infrastructure would collapse under the weight of the demand. When quality declines the rest follows. It becomes a circle of destruction.
Remember business is reasonable if you treat it so
Sustainability
Can you continue to deliver the service behind the sales you have and retain a reasonable profit over the time. If your plan is a 10 year goal with sustained growth what will you put into place to support the many functions of the business.
Organized planning related to social media
Social media
I have written a lot on social media and believe it is the most appropriate approach for any business to take.The problem is what areas of media will you concentrate on.
- Pinterest
This is the quantity of opportunities available however the small business owner can not do them all.
When doing too many the quality will fall and the results will decline. Each one of these demands input everyday therefore an impossible task unless outsourced .
The effort required can not be sustained over time so the platform will fail and collapse around you.
Business growth and strategy are necessary at all times
Purpose
The purpose of your planning is to structure every level to support the goal that you wish to achieve. Sales, back end, packing, management, customer service all have a role to play based around what you have set as a target.
Persistence
Consistent application overtime will bring results. You make it work by hammering away at your plan without blinking at results. Nothing is achieved in a day and the persistent operator will win out. People need to know and like you before they even consider the trust factor.
Choice
We all have choices however it is how we handle them that makes a difference. Nothing is irreversible, everything is subject to change and we do have dead ends that we encounter along the way. The old saying of Flogging a Dead Horse comes to mind when it is not working, and will never recover. Fix it and move on.
Clarity
There is no doubt that a plan written on a beer coaster is but an outline and not a working product.
Clarity at every level is required to make sure you have the basics for a deliverable product.
I like to include a complete cash flow with any planning I do and in fact maintain a daily spread sheet.
Above all else I focus on the next 6 months at all times. This will include seasonal influences as well as peak and slow times so I am not taken by shock
Inclusion
When you have others helping to deliver your plan they must be involved in the total concept and not just their little part. This is for moral as well as supporting the destiny in an all inclusive journey.
Keeping people in the dark will build animosity to the total project and bring about its destruction.
The new era is about conversational marketing an approach by all businesses
Communications
Along with the above headings all plans work better as a team experience.
Therefore complete visibility will bring about a much better result in a shorter time.
Team input will also help recognize problems earlier and lead to a quicker response.
This will allow them to make the necessary changes and support the overall effort.
Organized planning requires consistent attention and analytics
Annalysing
Above all else always monitor your journey on a regular basis.
It is often too late after the horse has bolted to fix minor issues that have turned into big problems.
In the same vein don't micro manage the results through the small hiccups that will occur along the passage of time.
This is a major tool that should have a review at regular periods and that should keep all those involved in the loop right up to date..
Discover the reasons for anomalies and make those driving changes to stay on the road to success.
Organized planning should be celebrated.
Celebrating
It is important that you recognize the mile stones of achievement and pause to applaud the result shared at every level.
We all love a winner so being able to raise a glass to success is necessary for the continued commitment of all the warriors in the battle.
Conclusion
In conclusion I did not set out to teach you how to write a business plan. There are lots of programs including a basic excel spread sheet that can do a great job of the math behind the service.
I did set out to have you think through the various components of your vision to map out a viable strategy that will bring success to you and your business.
It matters not if you are a lone operator, a three people business or something far greater than that.
A vision and a plan really lay out an objective to achievement so you are not wandering away from the pathway and getting lost in the bushes.
You will know what you want, how and when you will achieve it and the many steps that must be followed.
Finally only by doing things will you achieve the results you want. Doing nothing is not an answer.
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