Three Examples of the Olympics & Small Business Planning
Discipline, attention to detail is just a few of the hallmarks.
In today’s world, business owners can learn a lot from those who engage in world class competition, specifically the Olympics. Olympic athletes are some of the most talented individuals on the planet not only because of their physiques and forms, but because of their ability to prepare and plan for each competition. These athletes spend months and sometimes years planning and preparing for each competition all with the hopes of winning that gold medal.
The business owner who prepares and plans like Olympic athletes can reap their own version of the gold medal which thus translates to profitability, cash flow, and all the other perks that come with a successful business.
Planning.
It all begins with planning. It was the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery who said “a goal without a plan is a wish”. Planning for the business owner will vary depending on the business. Most business planning takes place on a weekly basis and successful weekly plans are usually formulated before the weekly business cycle starts. While a Monday weekly start day seems typical and is the norm for most businesses it is not always the case.
A restaurant for example might plan the week beginning on a Tuesday or on a day when it receives its food shipments. A key in successfully planning a week is to have the plan prepared before the week starts. This enables the business to get off to a fast start and be better prepared for anomalies.
Weekly plans
Weekly plans are also supplemented by longer plans and different types of plans. A business owner might for example have a yearly hiring plan. The overall company business plan might be a five-year plan. It is important that whichever the time frame or type of plan that it gets reviewed. Things change over time and plans need to be modified or adjusted for best results.
Preparation
Preparation is the foundation to be able to execute any plan. It involves all the healthy lifting that makes execution possible.
Three examples:
- Example 1 is a company that has a marketing plan but lacks a website. It will be very difficult to execute on a marketing plan if a company is not prepared by having a website or marketing materials in place since potential customers will have no platform that will allow them to connect with the business, its service and/or product.
- Example 2 is that of a company looking to raise capital but lacks the necessary financial documents and preparation to execute.
When company’s raise money they must be prepared to provide a business plan and/or executive summary to potential capital providers that show a detailed description of past financial performance, as well as future projections and how these goals will be obtained. Capital providers will not lend or invest money in companies that fail to both provide accurate financial statements as well as capture a distinct plan that sheds light on how capital will be used to grow the business.
Planning for future capital raises is instrumental in the success for any business, but if such endeavors are not properly prepared for, businesses can find themselves teetering along the lines of failure.
- Example 3, preparation is also key in times of uncertainty, said differently, the business landscape is ever-changing, thus each business is left susceptible to exogenous threats that are sometimes out of its control.
Take the financial industry for example, when the Voelker Rule came into effect during the summer of 2015-as a response to the 2007 financial crisis-banks were no longer allowed to trade financial assets using the cash on their balance sheets; in other words, proprietary trading was prohibited. Now, proprietary trading was where the big banks earned the majority of their revenue, but with it outlawed they had to find other sources of revenue and efficiency. The major banks all prepared for these new regulations and as a result they looked towards enhancing their wealth management divisions, cutting costs in investment banking divisions and sales & trading divisions.
The future is never certain therefore having the ability to effectively plan and prepare for the unexpected can put a business in a better position to withstand any negative headwinds. Preparation can be seen as the core elements that enable a business to be able to successfully execute its plan. These core elements can be people, technology and most importantly processes. A plan helps a company to prepare and preparing helps in the execution of a plan.
A vital aspect of preparation is that it gives valuable insight or information for planning. Preparing and the research involved in hiring employees will give valuable financial information to the business owner. This new financial information perhaps dictates that a plan needs to change.
In summary
In summary like Olympic athletes’ business owners need to plan and prepare. Their planning cycles are typically less than those of Olympic athletes which plan for a four-year cycle. What they do share in common is the need to prepare in order to be successful. This preparation will involve building the core processes, adding the right technologies and people leading to a successful execution of a plan.
This article was co-authored by Greg Devaux.
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Planning Is Core to Small Business Success
