Business Planning:

Business Planning Mistakes

No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Keeping this in mind will help you make corrections whenever you make mistakes.

Following are some mistakes that can be made while planning for your business:

• You didn’t write a business plan or you didn’t write an effective one. A business plan is essential to your approach to the present and the future workings of your company. Without a business plan, you leave yourself open to mistakes and no investor would even think about investing in a business that doesn’t have it’s plans laid out. A business plan is like a blue print to your company, it’s essential for decision-making.
• Lack of values and vision statements. Effective values and vision statements are your light tower in the mist of the ocean. They are the ones that guide your business into the future and ones that show the potential reader your business foresight.
• Placing customer needs second. If you think you know what the consumer wants, even though he’s telling you otherwise, then good luck. Without buyers, there is no need for the product or company. You need to follow your market, realize the needs and desires that exist and conform to them. That’s why it’s important to conduct good research about the marketability of your product.
• Thinking competition is weak. Never for a second think your enemy to be weak. If you are planning to open a company, there is a good chance another one just like you exists. By underestimating your competition, you open yourself to failure. There is always a unique vision behind a company, try to fully realize that and also keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and how you can do it better.
• My company is going to fail, just look at the competitor’s new product. Never underestimate the strength of a new idea. Don’t get pulled down by a couple of hurdles in your way. Don’t change the way you do business, because your competitor is successful in his. You need to trust your instincts in business and give a product some time to establish itself in the market.
• Writing a business plan as a budget. Your business plan is your vision for your business for the present and the future. It contains an executive summary, market for your product, financial statements and financial forecasts with explanations for all the assumptions you have made. A budget is not a business plan, its how much money you need to spend and why you need to spend it for the years to come. An investor looks at a budget as part of your business plan.
• Fear of failure in taking calculated risks. Never take a risk where you don’t have any idea about the consequences. But in today’s business world you need to take a risk if you want to get ahead of your competitors. The risk should be well researched and thought about before you take it.
• One man show. No one is perfect as we have said before. So for you to think you can do everything that needs to work in a business all by yourself is not wishful thinking but foolish. An outside perspective especially during planning of your business is essential for you to cover all corners.
• Let’s wait another year and see how it works out. Always let a new product establish itself in the market before you draw assumptions about it. However, if a product doesn’t get off the ground even after you have done everything you could, it’s time for a change. This change should be reflected in your business plan from the beginning, so you always have a back up plan in the back of your mind.
• The business plan is not a reflection of the original vision or the company mission. If you are unable to translate the vision onto the paper that can be understood by everyone that works for you, then it was a waste of time for you to write a business plan in the first place. The first people that you need to win approval from are your fellow workers.