08/ 29/ 2005
by Steve Strauss
In his book, The E-Myth, Leonard Gerber states that one problem most small-business owners share is spending too much time working in their business and not enough time working on their business.
So, maybe it’s time to spend a little time working on the business.
Where is your business going? How do you plan on getting there? What milestones and landmarks will you see along the way to let you know if you are headed in the right direction? If you do not know the answer to these questions, maybe it’s time to find out. And no, it need not be that difficult. It just takes a little time and some forethought.
Think of it this way: A pilot would never fly from Seattle to Miami without a detailed, well-researched flight plan. His flight plan helps him figure out how he will get to where he wants to go. It tells him how much fuel he will need, important landmarks to look for and how long it will take to get there. It’s his blueprint for a successful trip.
Your business plan is your version of a flight plan. It’s your blueprint for a successful trip. Tom Landry, the legendary Dallas Cowboys coach, once said, “Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”
That’s the idea. By spending a little time thinking expansively about your small business, you can create a plan to which you can refer back to see if you are on track and make necessary corrections.
But how do you do this? Do what comes naturally. If you like to write, write. If you think best while exercising, exercise. Bill Gates spends a week alone twice a year holed away in a small cabin by himself, figuring out where Microsoft needs to go during the next year.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Gates’ “Think Weeks” are a “twice yearly ritual that can influence the future of Microsoft and the tech industry.” One week in 1995 inspired Gate’s paper, “The Internet Tidal Wave,” that led Microsoft to develop its Internet browser and crush Netscape. Plans to create Microsoft’s Tablet PC, build more-secure software and start an online video game business were also catalyzed during Think Weeks.
If thinking big is smart for Bill Gates and Microsoft, it’s certainly smart for the rest of us.
Begin with the big picture. Where is your business now? Is it where you want? If not, why not? What are the long-term goals you have for the business? How much money will it make? How many employees will it have? How will it contribute to solving people’s problems (remembering that it is only by solving needs and problems that you continue to stay in business)?
Read up on your industry. Find a book that catches your fancy. Attend a seminar. The idea is to get out of the box, think things anew and figure out how to implement your emerging vision.
Drill down. How exactly will you get to where you want to go? What resources will be required? How much money will be needed? What may get in your way, and what will you do to get around that? What will your competitors do? What will you do?
Finally, write it down. Create a vision and a plan for implementing that vision. It could be as simple as a single page, or it could be a 30-page formal business plan. The important thing is that you have a plan, any plan.
Yes, you have much to consider. But then again, that is the whole idea and the joy. As Gates says, thinking about his business during Think Week “is probably the funnest part of my job.” It can be for you, too, and it can pay equal dividends in your enterprise.
