When people commence a new business the enthusiasm and energy levels are at fever pitch; the whole excitement of embarking on a new adventure in life has begun. Six months later these new business owners are often exhausted due mostly to hours upon hours of hard work, without any formal forward planning. So what are the things that you should do prior to commencing business?

Prepare a Business Plan

  1. An Executive Summary stating where the business needs to be in the next 5 years and what it will look like
  2. Vision and mission statement reflecting direction, what the business stands for and the journey
  3. Key strategies includes Financial, Sales and Marketing, Human Resources and Operational reports
  4. Products and Services consisting of the gross margin in respect of each product or service
  5. Marketing plan comprising of Branding, Client Acquisition and Client Retention
  6. Human Resource Plan including Job Descriptions, Mentoring process, Competency library and O. H. & S. plan
  7. Operational Plan outlining the key driver and the measurement process
  8. Systems reflecting both financial and non-financial in a flow-chart format together with a procedures manual
  9. Financial Plan includes Budgets compared with actual results together with the analysis and measurement process
  10. Risk Management Plan identifies the major areas of risk and the actions to minimise risk

Create a Management Control Process

As part of your Management Control process, review the monthly performance of:

  1. Financial statements
  2. Sales and Marketing
  3. Human Resources
  4. Operations
  5. Information Technology
  6. Strategic direction and actions

Review Strategic Performance

  1. Discover stakeholder requirements
  2. Match stakeholder requirements with vision and mission statements
  3. Implement actions incorporating stakeholder requirements
  4. Review strategic performance using the Management Control Process

This information places business owners in a position to systematically understand what it is they are aiming at in each area. Whilst the work will consist of long hours in the formative period there will be light at the end of the tunnel. That light is establishing the business in a manner that allows expansion in a systematic manner, using the correct controls with the emphasis being to work “On” rather than “In” the Business.

Author: Alan Green

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