Shifting your business plan occasionally

A business plan is a proposal, a road map, a blueprint and a master plan for an organization. A business is like an organism, it has life.It goes through the normal life processes; ideation stage, conception and incubation of the business idea, birth, growth, maturity, decline, recovery or death.This is like the business lifecycle. An organization whether for profit or not-for-profit should have a business plan, which is a living document, as long as the business is up and running.

Periodically, say quarterly, biannually or yearly, the business plan ought to be reviewed because “time changes everything,” meaning that changes take place over time. Inflation affects price levels, suggesting that the pricing and assumptions you used in estimating and preparing the financial plan of your business are subject to change. Rules and regulations and other factors affecting business change with time, requiring you to revisit, review and revise the plan to update and authenticate the information contained in it for proper direction and management of the business.

Your business plan needs a shift because business environments, both internal and external, are very dynamic – and so too is the business plan. Various factors or variables affect the plan/proposal. It is good to strategize and to effectively implement your plan, track and record performance and achievements.

It is also professional practice to occasionally review and evaluate your achievements against your plan. The facts and figures in the business plan are tentative and not actual, and even if they are, situations and circumstances can change over time. Whatever changes within your business would also change the content of your business plan. That’s why you, as an entrepreneur or business owner, need to program your mind to occasionally shift your business plan to effect any necessary adjustments, making it current and relevant to the times and seasons of the business.

By Christiana Mbazigwe, Duric Business Solutions, Toronto, ON, CYBF mentor