Most successful companies have some form of plan. A good business plan works from a model, which is using good information and mathematical assumptions. The information and assumptions used depend on the goals and desires of the entrepreneurial team starting the company.
But at the other side, there are some companies which are not the fan of business plan writing. They are the other side of timidity. They tell quite a different story. Often it is hard to get them to define their story because they are moving fast and making lots of money. Profit hides many management evils. When you are making money, it is hard to be convinced of the need to develop a business plan. That’s arrogance pure and simple. Sadly, the reasons for arrogant companies to avoid planning won’t withstand close scrutiny.
A company that doesn’t plan can operate for a period of time, existing day to day or year to year, but sooner or later the story plays out.
Arrogant leaders of arrogant companies often use three common themes or reasons to skip writing a business plan. These deadly avoidance behaviors are made even more potent when found in combinations:
1. When life is good customers line up and profits roll in with no end in sight. “Why should we do strategic planning?” a successful management team asks.
The more profitable a company, the more arrogant it becomes. Managers begin to believe their own press clippings, which leads to a belief of infallibility. Arrogant companies are so busy making money they get lulled into a false sense of security. They don’t believe they need to do strategic planning. Ironically, the best time to plan is when you are making lots of money and having a string of successes. Then you can afford the luxury of planning. When you are failing is the worst time to plan. That’s when you can least afford it. Either way, the need for planning doesn’t disappear.
2. We’re good.
Arrogant companies have a distorted view of themselves as successful management teams. They falsely believe their successes are because of their astute performance. They would be devastated to learn that their successes may be a matter of circumstance, not brilliant management. If a company is successful, doesn’t that mean management is doing the right things? Maybe that’s true but maybe not. Does it indicate a well-trained, disciplined management team with the skills needed for sustained growth? Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t.
3. Planning is a waste of time when we could be making money.
Arrogant companies see planning as missed opportunities for generating more dollars by doing more of the same as they are doing now. This track soon runs out. Planning is not a waste of time. It is about using your time to prepare for new opportunities. Doesn’t it make more sense to be in control of your company’s future than to leave it to fate? Wouldn’t it be wise to think through what you want to accomplish long term rather than live from day to day? Arrogant companies are easy to spot. Most frequently these are family-held businesses, entrepreneurial ventures, or old-line staid corporations. Don’t try to tell such companies that they need to do planning. You have to wait until they start to hurt. They must hit the flat spot on the growth line before you can get their attention.
The following techniques for dealing with an arrogant attitude are simple but radical:
_ Wait until they fail to get attention. Unfortunately, this is not a healthy course of action, but sometimes it is the only way.
_ Focus on the idea of creating greater success than the present.
This often hooks high-performing organizations that think they are creating the optimum results. Ask two questions of the management of this type company:
1. How much more money could you have made if you had been better organized?
2. How much money did you leave on the table by the way you now operate?
These are killer questions that usually lead an arrogant company to planning.
Start your entrepreneurial journey by writing a winning business plan, and creating a strategic plan from day one. It can only make your business stronger. A successful sale begins the very first day you start your own business.Writing thebusiness planwill not only ensure you that you are on the right track to make your business profitable, but will also bring you an opportunity to secure business loans, grants or angel investments. At B&F Business Plans, we write a winning business plan which helps your business achieve the backing you seek.
