Dear readers!
I hope you had a fabulous week and that you enjoy your week-end. As I enjoy working and writing, I am right now busy working on my Internet business. For this reason I’m writing on a Saturday morning. (Passion motivates me 
)
What would you say; is it really necessary to have a business plan? Please let me know your thoughts and ideas. Feel welcome to place comments.
One reason why you should actually have a business plan is that you are forced to think about your business mission statement. When using Business Plan Pro (our business plan software), a section under the Executive Summary is dedicated to the mission statement.
In my last post I dedicated time to discuss the importance of your business objectives and the fact that your objectives are derived from your mission statement. But what exactly is a mission statement?
Let me start with some of my personal, but also professional, opinions. In my book “Survival Kit for Small and Medium Businesses” I wrote the following:
“Let me ask you, what constitute business success to you? Alternatively, let me phrase the question in a different way, Why do you have a business?”
“As I see it, the answer should be straightforward. To make a PROFIT!”
“All your backbreaking effort, strategies, plans, systems, products and services, marketing campaigns, yes everything is intended to bring you, as owner/director/manager, one benefit – a profit! Not even your well-written mission statement is your ultimate business objective (“…we strive to provide our customers with high quality… so that they may enjoy…”). You have designed your mission statement to tell yourself (and your employees) how you would make a profit – whether you did it consciously or unconsciously!”
“I do not underrate your good intentions to provide your customers with high quality services or products! You need to deliver high standards at all times. Your mission statement is important. I am a client of a home security (armed response) company, and their services are excellent! It is really their passion to prevent crime. The security of their clients and reaction officers is so important to them that they do not compromise it just to save a few dollars! In a manner of speaking, profit is not everything, though… your mission statement and quality of services or products should eventually boost your profits!”
In the Help file of Business Plan Pro, the following statement is made:
“Use your mission statement to establish your fundamental goals for the quality of your business offering, customer satisfaction, employee welfare, compensation to owners, and so forth. A good mission statement can be a critical element in defining your business and communicating to employees, vendors, customers, partners, or shareholders.”
Bottom-line: By reading your business mission statement, an outsider should be able to determine what type of business you are in (or are planning to run). If you can do this right, you will also have a good idea what define your keys to success.
Audit firms are in the business of “providing peace of mind” (or the more professional term is “assurance”). They also provide other consulting and value adding services like drafting financial statements, tax reporting, IT security etc. etc.
A medical insurance company is concerned about adding value to the life of a member (i.e. a healthier body, mind and soul of a member is the mission and goal). A hospital or medical clinic, again, is concerned about addressing and treating sicknesses or restoring health.
Business Plan Pro advices a mission statement should also include a “value proposition”. It should summarize what benefits you offer – to whom, and at what relative price. For example, a tire company might be selling the benefit of road safety to safety-minded consumers at a price premium. A luxury clothing store, again, might actually be selling the benefit of prestige to status-conscious consumers.
Finally, I am a strong believer in that your passion should be the driving force behind your mission. If your business is your passion, you will have a mission statement that was not only recorded once in your business plan, but a mission statement that is a living statement to customers.
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact us at blog@business-around-the-globe.com
Warm regards
Michiel Jonker, CISA
Tags: Business Plan, Business Plan Software, mission statement
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Great point Michael,
Though there is no guarantee for success, the odds are certainly improved with a Business Plan.
I think of a business plan as a map.
If you don’t know the starting point in your journey, how can you expect to stay on course and arrive at the desired destination? A business plan is a good map. It will make the traveler sit down and focus on the “mountains” ahead, and thus, may save him from venturing off on the journey ill prepared.
It is worth the time and expense to prepare to succeed.
Thank you for your comment Tammera. It is 100% correct, your Business Plan is a map. It doesn’t mean that you cannot change your route (as with a business plan) after a while – as life happens while you are planning it
– but you still need the map to identify new roads (you need to build on your current business plan – change, add, delete, improve etc.).
For all other readers, if you would like to know more about Tammera, please visit her Facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/friend.....mera.brown
Tammera is in the business of assisting small and fledgling businesses get off the ground by helping them arrange Corporate Credit!
In my next blog I will discuss a case study of an excellent mission statement (my current web hosting company!).
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