Why business plans are like bananas

I like bananas, but you know what they can be like. One day they’re too green to eat. The next time you check they have gone all spotty and brown and are destined for the freezer. I like my bananas at the right level of ripeness before I eat them. How about you?

The process of putting a business plan together can be similar. One day you decide putting a business plan together is a good idea. That often happens at the start of the year when tradition dictates you do this. You have a green banana.

The next stage is when you start putting a plan together. Choosing some lofty goals, picking new market segments to enter, thinking of what new equipment and staff you will need, and how things will be different this year. The banana is starting to show signs of yellow now but is still not ready to eat.

You get busy at work. The guys on site have made another stuff-up. The clients are starting to put the pressure on. Materials are delayed and the council inspector shows up early. About now, the idea of finishing your business plan and putting it into action becomes overrun by the general busyness of day-to-day operations and you need to focus on fire fighting. This is the equivalent of your banana going spotty and brown, and the opportunity appears to have passed. You promise yourself it won’t happen next time.

So, how do you develop and implement a business plan successfully? Like eating a banana at the perfect ripeness, it’s all about taking action at the right time. Successful business planning is a process, not a single event. Rather than focusing on the plan itself, it is more important to focus on the process of analysing what has and hasn’t worked well for you over the past year, then take action regularly to steadily move you towards your goals. It’s the small and regular mini steps that will make the difference to how successful your planning process is. Like a goal to lose weight; it’s not the target weight that matters (although a goal helps), it’s the consistent changes to your diet and the regular exercise that will get you there. To make your business planning more effective, I suggest focusing on a couple of “on-the-business” projects each quarter to avoid overwhelm. Trying to implement too many business changes is like buying too many bananas at one time. It’s best to buy just a few and then purchase more when you have eaten those. Then break down those projects into small, action-focused tasks to do every week, so each project is moving forward steadily and doesn’t become stalled. Diary a time each week to review the previous week’s actions. Look at what still needs to be done and list five or six small actions to be implemented over the next seven days. It’s like scheduling a regular time to check on the colour of your bananas so you can watch for signs of them becoming overripe.

Business planning doesn’t need to be complicated. A simple, one-page business plan, implemented consistently and with purpose, will beat a fancy 30-page document any day.

For help in establishing a solid planning process in your business for 2021 and beyond, email me at andy@tradescoach.co.nz and we’ll book a session in.

Andy Burrows, Director of The Trades Coach and NZCB National Partner. I encourage you to take advantage of a free business strategy review session to see how we can improve your business performance. Call Andy today on 027 688 6721 or email andy@tradescoach.co.nz.

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