Introduction

The New Year is synonymous with personal goal setting and commitments to change certain habits for the better. It is also a great time for entrepreneurs to consider what they should prioritize in their business for the year ahead.

While the phrase ‘business plan’ is most commonly associated with a one-off activity for start-ups looking to raise finance, ‘business planning’ is something all entrepreneurs should be undertaking continually, regardless of the life stage their business is at. Business planning is essentially a reflection on the strategic context we are currently in, coupled with the setting of strategic goals and milestones that will help us along the way to achieving these goals. It is an ongoing process, where people are accountable for their performances; it is definitely not about a one-off physical document being consigned to a dusty cupboard.
 

Managing Your Day

It is all too easy to be distracted these days, be it via a barrage of emails demanding immediate attention, a temptation to spend five minutes on social media activities (only to notice 30 minutes slip by) or to fall into an unstructured routine where interruptions dictate what gets done. This scenario is all too easy for entrepreneurs to relate to, as they typically perform multiple functions in their fledgling business. It is also common amongst entrepreneurs who find themselves running out of time while their subordinates run out of work, a phenomenon colourfully described by William Oncken, Jr., and Donald L. Wass in the 1974 Harvard Business Review classic: ‘Who’s Got the Monkey?’[1] . Roll on almost 40 years and personal time management has become an even more important skill for entrepreneurs to be aware of.

While the above illustration of a reactive entrepreneur may be acceptable for one day in the office, it is not how your business should be run in the long term. You need to ensure that you are proactively managing your daily activities.

Business Planning

What has this got to do with business planning, I hear you ask?

The answer is ‘everything’. You need to start with a business plan which involves a holistic assessment of your business, and the opportunities and challenges it faces. You then need to detail key goals and milestones followed by SMART objectives[2] with names and numbers and dates. This will ensure that resources are allocated efficiently. While this may appear pretty standard for most, it is not typical, as research shows that many businesses lack even rudimentary plans.

Conclusion

In short, you need to decide the four or five key activities that will drive your business forward in 2011 and who will be responsible for delivering them. Once you are clear on these, you can then ensure that everyone is focused on these key goals and that they are concentrating on the daily tasks that support these, rather than working on a mix of activities, some of which are not contributing to the overall company goals. It is easy to be reactive in business; those businesses that really thrive are those who decide to shape their own destiny.