Growth & Strategy Conversations
A plan that nobody reads is not a plan. A plain page that guides the week is.
Many owners have never written a plan, and those who have often wrote it for a bank or an investor and never used it again. This session takes a different view of planning: a single page, built from facts about the business, ending in three priorities for the next ninety days and a regular time to check progress.
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Without a plan, the loudest problem of the week decides what gets done.
In a small business, the owner is often the sales team, the accountant and the troubleshooter at once. The urgent crowds out the important: a late delivery, an angry customer, a supplier chasing payment. A year later the business looks much the same, and the owner is tired.
A short plan does not remove the urgent. It gives the owner a reason to protect some time for the important, and a way to say no to opportunities that do not fit. The plan can be revised whenever facts change; what matters is that it exists and is reviewed.
What the session covers
31 topics across 7 areas. Seven steps, which together fit on one page.
Where You Stand TodayFacts first.5
- Sales, margin and cash for the last twelve months
- Your best and worst products, services and customers
- What is going well, and what keeps going wrong
- How the owner’s time is actually spent
- What customers and staff would say if asked
If the numbers are hard to get, that is the first thing the plan should fix.
Where You Want to BeRealistic, specific, and for you.4
- What you want from the business: income, free time, growth, security or a sale
- A picture of the business twelve months from now
- A few targets that you can measure
- Whether those aims fit the resources you have
The Choices in BetweenStrategy is choosing.6
Owners compare options by what each would need in time, money and skill, and by what could go wrong.
- Selling more to current customers
- Reaching new customers or places
- Improving margins and costs
- Adding or dropping products and services
- Strengthening the team or the systems
- Doing nothing different, and why that is also a choice
Three Priorities and a Stop ListFocus is the hard part.4
- Choosing no more than three priorities for the next ninety days
- Saying what each priority will look like when done
- What you will stop or delay to make room
- Why a long list is usually a sign that no choice has been made
Assumptions and RisksWhat has to be true.4
- Writing down what the plan assumes about customers, costs and people
- Which assumptions are the shakiest
- How to test the shakiest one early and cheaply
- What you would do if sales fell by a fifth
From Plan to WeekWhere plans usually die.4
- Breaking each priority into actions with a name and date
- Protecting a fixed hour each week for the important work
- Telling the team what the priorities are
- A simple board or sheet that everyone can see
Reviewing and RevisingA plan is a living page.4
- A monthly review of an hour with a short agenda
- Three numbers to look at every time
- What to do when you are off track: fix, change or drop
- Writing a fresh plan every quarter, not every five years
Exercises owners do in the session
- Fill in the where-you-stand sheet using the last twelve months’ figures
- Write the twelve-month picture and three measurable targets
- Choose three priorities and a stop list, and share one with the group
- Draft the ninety-day action list with names and dates
What participants leave with
- A one-page plan template and their own filled version
- An assumptions sheet
- A monthly review agenda
- A ninety-day action list
What this session is not
- Financial, tax or legal advice
- A business plan for a bank or an investor
- A guarantee that following the plan will bring growth
How the session runs
A facilitated workshop of around three hours, in a small group. A practitioner who has helped small businesses plan walks through the one-page template, and owners fill it in with their own figures as they go. Owners are asked to bring their last twelve months’ sales and expense totals, but nothing else. They keep their sheets private unless they choose to share.
What your students leave with
- A plain statement of where the business stands today, in numbers and in words
- A clear view of the choices open to them over the coming year
- A one-page plan with three priorities and a stop list
- The assumptions behind the plan, written down so they can be checked
- A ninety-day action list with names and dates
- A monthly review routine that takes under an hour
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
One page, three priorities, a stop list and a monthly review.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.