2022 Business Plan: Thinking Ahead
It’s that time of year again! Time to start conceptualizing your business plan for the new year ahead.
It’s time to assess what’s working and what’s not working in your business, make plans to increase work coming in, allow for flexibility amongst your team, and ideally grow your influence in the market year on year.
An effective business plan is essentially a roadmap to success, which outlines the route a company intends to take to grow and strengthen your business over the next few years. Without a plan, you nor your team will have direction to know where you’re aiming to get to. Don’t be afraid to revisit your business plan multiple times during the year and create a turning point (if required) to reboot, reinvigorate, and reimagine your business’s success. A yearly business plan does not have to be complex, although it should contain input from all major stakeholders. There is no set format as to how your business plan should look. However your plan should be as detailed as possible, focused, analytical and forward thinking.
Most business plans focus on developing a strategy for the future and identifying the short-term and intermediate steps which need to be taken to get there. Below are a few steps which you can take to compile a business plan that brings about results for the new year.
- List the 3 most important objectives/goals for the new year. These should be critical accomplishments that will lead to profits and future achievements.
2. For each objective listed above, identify your responsibility in achieving the objective:
- WHAT will you do?
- HOW will you do it?
- WHEN will you do it?
- WHO is responsible for each task above?
3. Don’t think of the year as a whole. Break it down into monthly metrics and set quarterly goal-planning reviews into your calendar. This will assist with relevant adjustments, measurement of results, as well as allow you to take a strategic look at your marketing, sales and business developments every 90 days.
4. Don’t plan alone. Consolidate with your team when developing your 2022 business plan, as well as other external resources that you make use of, such as your marketing agency, your accountant and your lawyer. They will assist you to see your business from another perspective and allow for other worthwhile ideas and goals to be shared.
5. Don’t get distracted. Stay focused on the bigger picture of your goal setting in your business plan in Step 1 – and then relentlessly ask yourself for every new idea, initiative or project, “Does this support one of my main 3 goals? If so, how?” If it’s a no, it’s a no, and move on to the next goal.
6. Last but not least. Breathe… You got this. Any time you’re creating an inflection point in your business, it can be scary. You’re letting go of the old and what no longer works or no longer serves your business well and you’re embracing the new – the untried, the uncomfortable, perhaps even what may seem risky. Remember the greater the risk, the greater the reward may be.
By definition, business owners should continually evaluate their business plan and make adjustments accordingly. However, re-evaluating your business and its progress every year allows a great opportunity to single out time to sit down and plan for the year to come.
All the best with your planning. Should a new office be on the cards, you know where to find us.
