Do you really need to have a Why statement for your business? The proponents of creating vision and mission statements tout the advantages as defining your company’s direction, deciding your core business model, creating an image of the future, focusing your business decisions, setting tracking parameters and more. With all those benefits you should obviously drop everything and get your Why statement set in concrete, right?
I am going to let you in on a little secret… your vision and mission will change. If you are in business for any length of time, your vision and mission will change multiple times. I started my business because I did not want to go through the interview process in a depressed job market. That was my Why for Now and I went with it. I did not want to cure cancer, leave a legacy for my children or make one million dollars - I simply did not think I was hirable in the job market. Four years later I still do not have a perfect Why statement, yet my business keeps growing.
Why? Because I do not let the lack of a “perfect” Why slow me down. Do not let it slow you down either. If your Why for Now is that you are a stay-at-home mom and you want more interaction with adults, go with it. If your Why for Now is that you want to have a side-business because your profession is unstable, go with it.
How do you define your company’s direction, decide your core business model, create an image of the future, focus your business decisions, set tracking parameters and more without a Why statement? A business plan lays out all this information. I know you may be thinking you need to be chained to a desk for days compiling your business data into pages of text, spreadsheets and projections for a business plan to be effective. However, that is simply not the case.
I have designed the One-page Business Plan to be a yearly process, so you only need to create a Why for the coming year. What is the big goal you want to achieve during the next 12 months? That is as far as your Why for Now needs to reach. I do my One-page Business Plan during the second half of December or early January each year to coincide with the tax year. At least 95 percent of my monetary transactions have been completed by mid-December, so I have pretty accurate data to access for my plan. If you are not currently working with a business plan when you read this, do not wait for December. Your plan year can range through whichever dates you choose.
My 2018 Why for Now is a wheelchair-accessible van. That is why I am working this year. Take the time to choose your Why for Now and get your business plan in place. I offer a training called Creating a One-page Business Plan which walks you through a step-by-step process to get your plan in place, however there are other programs available from other instructors so choose someone you would like to work with.
A written business plan is an essential tool to enable you to grow your business. Quit wasting time creating an elaborate Why statement and start planning to grow your business.
Until next time…
Have a great day,
Susanne
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