Edmonton Business Consultant | Creating Your Business Plan

Business owners without a business plan are less prepared to overcome the hurdles that they will face, and run into problems which is completely avoidable says Edmonton business consultant. A great business plan doesn’t need to take a lot of time, but the right questions need to be asked in order to create your best plan. You don’t need to consider every single variable that your business may face, just addressing three of the most common business problems that businesses will face today. Once you have strategies in place for how to deal with these problems, dealing with the variables that arise will be much easier. As Benjamin Franklin one of the founding fathers of the United States was quoted as saying if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Set your business up for success by creating the most effective business plan you can.

29% of business owners say they ran out of cash in their business. Edmonton business consultant says this is completely avoidable by putting in a cash flow projection into your business plan. A cash flow projection will help you see market trends, see where your business has come from, and see where it’s likely to go in the future. If you are unable to come up with cash flow projections yourself, a great accountants will be able to take your business vision and come up with conservative cash flow projections for you. They do recommend using conservative cash flow projections, because circumstances beyond your control may arise in your business at any moment that you will need to deal with instead of running your business. Some of these variables may include losing key customers, staff quitting at key times, changes in the market, failures of equipment, supply chain issues, regulatory changes just to name a few. Not only will you be unable to predict what events may occur you also can’t predict the significance of these events, which is why it’s important to have a plan in place that deals with the three most common pain points because when the most common pain points are planned for you will be able to deal with these issues more easily.

Business owners who were not successful in business said they had a hard time finding the right team says Edmonton business consultant this is completely avoidable in a business plan. Coming up with a great human resources strategy will help you in your hiring practices, your staff retention policies, and allow you to implement best practices for training. Without a plan in place you may fall into the stop start method of hiring, which is ineffective and can lead to business owners hiring a less than ideal person because they feel forced into a decision, or they are unable to find a suitable candidate at all.

With these tools to create a great business plan, Edmonton business consultant recommends spending about four hours each year answering these questions. Review your business plan often and updating it when necessary will allow you to become more prepared in the day-to-day operations of your business.

Edmonton business consultant creating your business plan

Many business owners don’t have a business plan, or they don’t have an effective business plan says Edmonton business consultant. Studies show that businesses that have any business plan at all are 50% more likely to go there revenue. Instances of success go up considerably when that business plan is effective. Problem is entrepreneurs don’t know how to create an effective business plan. They may spend upwards of 40 hours creating a business plan, or don’t know what information to put in the business plan so they include far more information than is necessary. By following these tips on how to write a great business plan, business owners can be better armed for success in their business.

42% of business owners say they are unable to generate new revenue in their business. This is easily dealt with in a business plan. Your business plan should include a sales and marketing plan, that will help you identify your best customer. Edmonton business consultant says most business owners are mistaken when they say every single person is their ideal customer. This isn’t true, no matter how good a product or service a business offers, not every person will like your product or service – itís simply not possible. Identify your most ideal client, and figure out how to attract more of them. Remember that your competitors will always be marketing as well, you need to constantly be improving. Once you have your ideal customers as clients, must have strategies in place for how to keep them. As you are the experts in your business, coming up at the strategies should be possible with a little bit of thought.

Many business owners say their biggest challenge in business is the inability to find the right team. 23% of businesses who fail attribute this as their main downfall says Edmonton business consultant. Businesses that don’t have a plan in place often have an effective hiring strategies, only looking for new staff after an employee leaves, instead of constantly interviewing to fill their pipeline full of great people. Employees who leave your business are going to leave at the time that’s convenient for them not you. This can create problems in your business. Being ready to hire great employees as needed will enable you to have a seamless transition within your business.

By taking these specific pain points into consideration, thinking logically, four hours is all the time that’s needed to create a super effective business plan that can help you reduce the impacts of the pain points in your business. Don’t forget that you can’t possibly take into consideration every single variable your business may face, and you can’t predict the significance those events may have on your business, but having these key points thought of and planned out ahead of time will make you more ready to tackle those issues when they do arise.