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JUST ASK BOB: EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE AND BUSINESS.
Author: Robert A. Isaacson, M.A., M.S.S.
JUST ASK BOB:
EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE AND BUSINESS.
Part 1. You Need a (Business) Plan, Man.
© 2004 by Robert Isaacson, MA, MSS
All rights reserved.
Hi, hope you all are doing well this month. Thanks for all your questions and comments. Keep them coming. E-mail me at bob@fullcirclesolutions.net or call me at (610) 446-4981. Love to hear from you.
Recently, JR wrote in that he did not have a business plan and asked if he needed one. Here is my response about why a business plan is critical. Don’t leave home without one! Next month I’ll sketch out a model to create a plan.
Dear JR:
My late mother once said there were 2 kinds of people, those who shop and those who don’t, and that we were part of the former group. (She was right, by the way. Take me into a mall and I am in heaven.) To carry the metaphor a bit further, JR, there are 2 kinds of business owners or executives, those who have business plans and those who don’t. You should be in the former group as well.
Why is having a business plan a “no brainer?” Because if you don’t know where you’re going, Lord knows where you will end up. I mean this, with no disrespect intended to the Lord. Without a clear sense of vision and direction for your business, you will encounter 2 problems.
First your target market of customers or clients will not know who you are and what you have to offer them. They will have little sense of what “pain” you will help them resolve or what need you will help them meet. You will lack clarity or what marketers call “positioning” in the marketplace. You must offer something special to people. This is especially true in a noisy and crowded marketplace, with thousands of businesses trying to get the attention of your prospects. In this way, you differentiate or distinguish yourself in your marketplace. You stand out.
Think about Coca-Cola for a moment. When you are thirsty and long for a brown cola, what is (probably) the first product that comes to mind? Coca-Cola of course. The Company has spent years and many dollars burning this notion into the minds of its prospective customers. It has created a brand; Coca-Cola is on the top rung of a mythical ladder in the minds of those of those thirsty souls among us. Recent research suggests that even when drinkers prefer the taste of Pepsi-Cola (remember the Pepsi taste test?), they buy Coca-Cola.
You don’t need to be a multinational conglomerate to make branding work for you. But you do need to have a business plan with a clear purpose and an action plan for getting there. Remember Johnny Cochran, the lawyer? You may not have liked how he defended O.J. Simpson. But you probably see him as a tough, tenacious legal advocate. Isn’t this someone you would want on your side if you were in trouble?
You will encounter a second problem without a master plan and the clarity of purpose and direction it implies. You will be drawn from activity to activity, taking actions that will not result in much synergy for your business. So often I have seen business coaching clients move from one target market to the next or one project to another, desperately hoping that their next move will cause their businesses to “catch fire.” Chances are this won’t happen without a business plan that identifies a clear opportunity and a means to take advantage of it.
So do you need a business plan, JR? Yup. It’s a no-brainer, I am afraid. Next month I’ll outline the clear, simple steps to create the plan you need. Have a great month. Keep those e-mails and calls coming.
Robert A. Isaacson, MA, MSS
Coaching & Consulting
Developing People - Transforming Organizations
www.fullcirclesolutions.net
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Robert A. Isaacson, M.A., M.S.S., is a business and executive coach, speaker, writer, organizational consultant, and therapist. He is the co-founder of Full Circle Solutions, a Narberth, Pennsylvania people development company. Bob coaches CEOs, corporate executives, management teams, nonprofit leaders, and small business owners, as well as new coaches and therapists building practices. His vision is to create Entrepreneurial Leaders. Contact Bob today for your FREE coaching session and become the entrepreneurial leader you always thought you could be. Bob’s website is www.fullcirclesolutions.net and he can be reached at bob@fullcirclesolutions.net
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