Maybe you have already completed your budget and plan for next year.

If so, congratulations! Less than 30% of all businesses, especially small businesses, actually go through a formal planning process.

I believe that planning (and yes, even budgeting) are necessary leadership skills to develop, whether you are a business owner or hold a key leadership position in a firm.

I learned about planning early in my career.

I worked for a food manufacturing firm as manager of Quality Control. The owner of the company believed that every department should write a plan. When I left that industry and went into sales, the new company believed strongly in planning.

Every single salesperson was required to write a yearly plan and review it with the manager.

It was an intense process that included what I was going to do, how I was going to accomplish it, and what resources I needed to make it happen.

Those skills served me well when I opened my first company. I can’t stress enough the importance of the skill of planning.

If we simply say ‘I want 20% growth’ without knowing

(a) is that growth in revenue or profits?

(b) is it in one area or across the board?

(c) how are we going to make it happen?

(d) what might interfere with our reaching that goal?

(e) what resources will be needed, etc., etc.?

         (f) are we just going to depend on luck?

If we do get lucky, we have no way of knowing how it happened and how to replicate the results.

I’ve done annual business plans for 30 years.  Not every goal was reached, and sometimes the goals changed as new opportunities presented themselves. But one thing I know for sure: Over the years my companies have succeeded, not simply because of hard work on my part but because I developed the business skills of planning and budgeting.

If you have yet to write a plan for your business, now might be the time to get started.  Let us help you out.

Begin by downloading The Do’s and Don’t of Business Planning.  It will give you ideas, and a fresh perspective on planning.