Some few years back, Taking close look at small businesses in action. Then, I was basically doing a smaller version of my present consulting, developing Blogspot blogs and Providing software solutions for some few people, which obviously led me into the business world I had previously viewed only from afar. I had always admired people who built their own businesses and continued to run it successfully.
To me it takes someone special to carve their own path through life. While I still admire such people, I learned to know many of my mentors were flawed. Some small businesses I know were mostly a one-person show with from 2 to 10 employees.
Yet for the most part they held a very odd view of planning, As I see it. They Waited until the morning of most days to decide what they would do in the afternoon of that same day. The observation startled me. It still does. And since lack of planning is prevalent on the Web too, I am frequently startled.
1. Look Beyond This time, the present, look into the Future !
When I first meet a potential client, I tried to get a feeling for where things are just now, and where they are expected to be a year from that time. Often when I ask about such things, the replies demonstrate there has been little or no thinking about it. In fact there is often no interest in the topic.
The mode seems to be: Take care of today and worry about tomorrow when it arrives. Great! But as competitions on the Internet continues to heat up at an increasing rate, those who can not plan effectively will lose to those who do.
For example, If there are ten sites Online selling Food supplies now, there will be a hundred within a year from now. But a year after that year, the number of successful sites may be down to three or four. Why? Because many simply are not prepared for such fierce competition. And then a major part of the problem is an insufficient plan, or none at all.
2. Get A Business Plan
If you don't have a solid business plan on ground, build one now. And do it with a pencil with a large eraser! When you are done, come up with a plan B too. A good plan is never fixed in stone. Quite the contrary.
It is flexible in all possible ways, allowing for contraction and expansion. It must anticipate whole changes in direction. What will you do if your suppliers go out of business or become too slow fulfilling orders? If you depend upon imports, what will be the impact of changes in regulations?
For that matter, how will any change in the law effect your business?
These are not trivial issues. In the latter case, most new laws and regulations no longer come directly from legislation; they come from government agencies empowered to create them.
These are not trivial issues. In the latter case, most new laws and regulations no longer come directly from legislation; they come from government agencies empowered to create them.
All you can really be certain about is that there will be changes. There are hundreds of such questions. And hundreds more that apply specifically to your business.
3. You Need Answers Now.
To wait until a crisis erupts is to have waited too long. It is always more difficult to find good solutions when under pressure. Obviously one can not anticipate all such questions, any more than one can anticipate all future opportunities. But plan for all outcomes imaginable.
Do it now, before a full blown crisis so overwhelms as to make it difficult, if not impossible, to find a reasonable solution. While it remains wise to consider in the morning what must be done this afternoon, to survive we need a good idea of what will be required for the rest of the week, the month, the year, and in subsequent years as well. Best Wishes.
