CRAFT A PERFECT BUSINESS PLAN
Six things to remember before becoming an entrepreneur
Iwant to start something on my own’ is one of the most common phrases I hear. In the last ten years, there has been a huge shift in the mindset of India’s youth—they want to challenge the status quo, have an intense risk-taking appetite and are willing to ‘fail and learn’ rather than ‘not try at all.’ According to Harvard Business School, 70 per cent to 80 per cent of new businesses fail. So, what makes for an intelligent, structured plan?
INTROSPECT, STAY IN TOUCH WITH REALITY AND UNDERSTAND WHAT MAKES YOU UNIQUE
Before you begin, reflect on what has been done in the past, be certain about the present and then figure out where the gap lies. Understand your market, competitors and audience.
CREATE A SIMPLE NARRATIVE
The message the plan conveys must be simple. Why do people buy something? It’s usually because they understand the product. Your stakeholders prefer simplicity and attempting to build a business based on complexity is over.
IDEATION TO ACTIVATION
Most people think that the tough part is coming up with an idea for a business and the easy part is turning it into a business. It could well be the other way round. So ideation, design thinking and implementation are equally important.
DISCIPLINE IS IMPORTANT,
SO IS FLEXIBILITY
You might have a perfect business plan, however, if you don’t pay attention to the shifts in the market and change your strategies accordingly, you aren’t going to make it. This is important now as digitisation is continuously disrupting business models.
ESTABLISH RESPONSIBILITY
Make sure your philosophy and strategy permeates all the way down in the organisation. A plan succeeds if the team or the organisation works like a well-oiled machine.
MEASURE
YOUR DECISION-MAKING ABILITY
All businesses track sales numbers, marketing efforts, employee and customer satisfaction. At the same time, don’t underestimate the importance of decision making in a business. Most choose decision faking over decision making. But it is necessary to measure your decisionmaking abilities and develop practices that make sense and are good for your organisation. Go ahead and create wealth with great ideas executed with strategies grounded in reality.