Many of the micro and side-hustle business owners I work with shy away from planning. Not because they are lazy or indifferent, but because they are confused about the plan itself. They stick to an ever-growing To-Do list because they haven’t got to grips with the three stages of planning a business.
I don’t blame them for being confused; it took me years to get my head around it.
What Are the Stages of Planning?
Understanding the stages of planning a business means you have to get to grips with not one, but three plans:
- Strategic Plan
- Business Plan
- Action Plan
Before you run off screaming (you thought one plan was bad enough, now I’m telling you that you need three?!) let me reassure you. It’s not as hard or complicated as it sounds.
In this blog, I want to take away the mystery of the business planning stages and dispel the myths.
Don’t Let Temptation Get in Your Way
You might be tempted to dismiss the idea of planning altogether. If you’re in sole charge of the whole business – as micro and side- hustle business owners are – you may assume you’re on top of everything.
I’ve lost count of the number of times a business owner has said to me ‘I don’t need a plan, it’s all in my head’
Oh dear. No wonder there is confusion.
As well as using their head to carry around of their skills, knowledge and experience, they are expecting their poor brain-box to keep track of everything they need to know; everything they need to do; the order in which things need to be done and how to prioritise.
No wonder the owners of so many one-person businesses look frazzled.
So, let’s take a look at the three stages of perfectly planning a business so you can open up some head-space, take the pressure off and get rid of those mega To-Do lists.
Stage One: The Strategic Plan
A Strategic Plan is the top tier plan, or the – why you exist, what do you do and who do you do it for – plan.
The strategic stage of planning in your business is large-scale, forward thinking and will encompass:
Vision – this is your long-term view of where you want to be, what you want to achieve
Mission – this is why you want to do it, your drivers and why you
Brand – this is who your customers are, what you want them to feel and your key message
This is blue-sky stuff. It is not the day-to-day, nitty-gritty.
The strategic stage of the planning process makes you consider your broader and longer-term objectives.
Stage Two: The Business Plan
A Business Plan is the middle tier plan, or the – what you do, where you do it and how you do it – plan.
Where the strategic stage of the planning process focusses on what you want to achieve in the long-term, the business planning stage takes those aims and turns them into measurable objectives.
The easiest way to think about it is, the business plan provides you with the details of how you are going to achieve your long-term aims.
If you want a really simple approach to business planning, why not get your copy of my One Page Business Plan?
Stage Three: The Action Plan
The Action Plan is the third-tier plan.
This is the stage of planning, or the – when is it going to get done, who is going to do it and (often) how much is it going to cost – plan.
The action planning stage takes the measurable objectives of your business plan and turns them into tiny, bite-sized activities that you can easily achieve.
Each action takes you one step towards achieving what and the where of your business plan as well as moving you closer to the broader ‘why’ of your strategic plan.
Planning Can Be Scary, But It’s Powerful
As a Business Mentor who specialises in working with micro and side-hustle businesses, I know only too well that planning can be incredibly scary.
Remember, I have been there (I bought the T-shirt!).
Whether it’s consciously, or subconsciously you may be worried that if you create a strategy, a business plan and an action plan with some real, tangible goals, you might not achieve them. And worse? Maybe you don’t believe you can achieve them, so, maybe it’s better to not do anything at all?
Hands up. I was this person. I was totally conscious of all of this, really scared and had absolutely no belief in my ability to achieve anything.
Until …
I realised the power of these stages of planning.
What I discovered is that the business plan doesn’t have to be a massive document full of statistics and numbers. All it needs to be is a set of simple documents that lead to the stage of creating an outline of the step-by-step tasks I need to do each day. And, importantly, each of those baby-steps is one step closer to what I want to achieve with my business.
If you would like some help getting to grips with your business planning, Let’s Talk. Your business (and your bank balance) will thank you for it!