🚧 Business Plans - Do you really need them?

We usually think of Business Plans as something other sectors in business need but not us in the Trade.

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What's the point? It's all figures and speculations isn't it. We know that if we are pricing and winning that means we are busy but is that the full story?

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When we work with clients, we promote the need for a business plan as it then helps us ask some real questions as to the direction of the company for example. Think of it as your SatNav, you can keep checking to see if you are on the right road and taking the right junctions, so why not have this for your own business? Can directors really say where they are going and is that why they feel so lost in direction for their own company at times?

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Some people do produce a plan but then just file them away in a drawer somewhere.

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Some people really make it work for them and say hold on here, we could have just taken a wrong turn but let's not focus on just the bad news, we must learn to celebrate the wins as well and also focus on what's going right, what's going well, what we are doing well so the signals and data coming back in to tell us we have been winning not drawing or losing as we felt. It's until we see this data - we are walking in a fog - it's not your fault, so give yourself a break, you just did not have an instrument panel to tell us the info and this is where Saint come in.

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It's both Saint and you being open and saying ok, let's start again, a new way and all the good that brings where the old bad habits and fears no longer control the company. We work like this with the big companies providing info and data, they ask for it every day so why not you? This is the same as in a car, the speedo  - do you feel you going to fast or too slow as a business or in your life expectations? Are the headlights on? - do you feel like you cannot see the way anymore and need help or does it feel like there is no petrol or energy left? Do you feel as if you running too fast using brute physical force alone?

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You feel you are running low and know you are now, not just running on fumes of fuel but now tapping into the last real reserves... of hope that things will change. Together we can change that, its being open to change, work smarter not harder and being open to new ways of working that's all.

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It’s like most times in our industry, we were taught a trade but not how to run a business. Some dismiss it and are happy to keep on winging it but others see the value in a properly laid out plan. A business plan lets you really discuss the vision of the owners.

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When you just say what you’re going to do with the company it is just a wish but when you write it down and lock other inputs into the plan it becomes a reality and this is why any big business has one to hand.

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It’s more about the right attitude than intelligence. We have people who have lost everything and are starting again and one of the first things they ask for when they join is a plan. It's their second time around and they are not making it all about themselves this time, relying on ego and personal ability, it's a much deeper sense of maturity.

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When I walk into a business that’s struggling I quickly ask for the business plan and the budgets planned that will be spent that year even estimated and of course they never have them and so we start to untangle the web of where it went wrong as they have no idea really if it was going wrong, they have no timeline, they have no real grip or control and I do not mean going around barking at everyone pretending.

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I mean point to it on a sheet and explain how we did not see this coming. It's this feeling that's the real turn off not even getting a plan done. They can even feel a bit embarrassed that they have been a business owner for 20 years and they don't really have a clue about this side. Look, that's okay, that's what we are here for. To do it together and make you stronger, nothing else. It's not rocket science, try to think of it as it's just an early warning system. We want to work with you and in return, you will see the benefits as over time you become more familiar with viewing the document more regularly and that's how it really starts. We build slowly from there pointing out little details to look out for.

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But if I walk into the same company with a real working plan, it gets presented and they can almost point out the lines where they were impacted and more importantly the time they have left to correct.

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Businesses with a plan have a much higher rate of survival and then tend not to stall but to have real growth. Imagine if you could improve your chance of success by just having a plan. There are figures on survival out there but they fudge the real message.

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Some say it's cash flow or sales but its all the other little bits, the team behind it and the modelling for example and it's why we at Saint do take a real 360 view of what’s going on. Balance that with Saint being a construction specialist we really understand the difficulties you go through as a Trade. We get it.

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When we are asked for a business plan we want you to really stop and think about why you need this first rather than give you a product that in the end does not really serve its purpose. We have our big 7 we sell all the time but you can see from the list below why we get you to stop, think and reflect before you just say can I have a Business Plan and spend your money.

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And this is not all of the plans and concepts we are thinking off when you call in and ask, there are more!

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Here are some of the types of business plans, impact plans and presentation options we have requests for and I could go on.

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1. The Sale of the Business
2. New Start Ups.
3. Raising Debt Finance.
4. Coaching and Vision Building.
5. Use as a Management Plans.
6. Raising and dealing with Equality Finance Houses.
7. Internal Board Approval.
8. Re-calculating overall internal Project Shift.
9. Joint Venture / Stakeholder Partners.
10. Re-Structures with Financial Inputs.
11. Lean or Dynamic Plans / One Page Plans.
12. Growth or Expansion Plans.
13. Degenerative Care - Delegation to Maintenance Planning.
14. Full Financial Plans - Proforma’s.
15. Feasibility Plans.
16. Section or Divisional Plans - i.e. Operations - Admin-Sales.
17. Director or Staff Buyout Plans.
18. Death / Critical illness Planning.
19. Partner Dispute - Resignation.
20. Planned Retirement or Exit Strategy Plan.
21. Disaster Protocol Plan - Rapid Ringfence to being sued, debt and insolvency.
22. Problem Resolution - Real v Planned - Correction for an on going problem - Dictated by an External Finance Partner (Banks) who requires more insight and control until correction.
23. Divorce Settlement Plan.
24. Delivery and Presentation - From bespoke Media platforms and document delivery to all Partners and Stakeholders, Dragons Den type Pitching to Auditorium presentations and Talks.
25. Government Project Grant Evidence

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So before we commit we really need to ask, who will see this document in the final decision making moment and what is the actual worded outcome we want?

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🎉 That's a wrap!

I hope you found this useful! If any of the above plans listed or questions are of interest to you please do contact us and we can explore in more detail.

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Or book a FREE consultancy call with us here!

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