Planning Your Business Direction: The Forgotten Factor
What direction is your business heading in?
People start new businesses all the time. In fact, the first half of 2021 saw a 32% increase in businesses being registered in the UK. This equated to almost 80 new businesses being started every hour. Some will have started their businesses spontaneously, whereas others will have carefully considered what they were going to do for months, if not years, beforehand.
Starting a business is one thing. But steering it towards success is quite another. Unfortunately, while more people are starting a business, the statistics for the number that fail are still shocking. It is estimated that 20% fail within the first year, and 60% do not make it to the end of their third year.
Why are so many small businesses failing? While there are a multitude of competing factors, failure to plan the direction of a business is a big one. It is said that one in four small businesses do not have a business plan in place, with another quarter of businesses not having one written down.
Why planning your direction is important
The business world is full of cliches about the importance of planning, and how without it, your only plan is to fail. There are businesses who muddle along without one, but they normally lack consistency and focus. They make decisions in the moment, rather than against a long-term plan and vision for the business. They are therefore unlikely to achieve their full growth potential.
In 2010, a study asked ‘should entrepreneurs plan or just storm the castle?’ The results concluded that planning was beneficial to the performance of a business. This will come as no surprise to any business owner who has produced a business plan. A plan with a clear direction allows a business to create strategies and make effective decisions which support the future of the business.
How businesses typically plan their direction
For those business owners who do plan the direction they wish to take, they usually start the process by deciding on their endgame or exit strategy. Once they know what they ultimately want to achieve, they move on to consider where they are now, and the progress they’ll need to make to achieve their goal within their set timeframe. They can then break this down into interim goals and create a strategy for achieving each one of them.
This tried and tested methodology for creating a business plan is extremely useful. Business owners can review their progress periodically against the targets they have set and make any necessary adjustments. Some view a business plan as something which is set in stone, but this is not the case, indeed being agile is key. You should review and update a plan regularly, so it keeps you focused on your direction.
The missing factor
This all sounds very logical - create a plan to get you where you want and keep following it. However, it’s missing a crucial factor. In business, there is a tendency to focus on the rational and logical, putting aside all emotion. But this can be to your detriment because emotional factors can influence whether you stay on track with your plan or abandon it early on.
Whilst it is sensible to set short-term, interim goals, these need to be aligned with the personal motivations of the business owner. Simply put, there is no point setting merely financial targets as a sole indicator of success if the individual is not money motivated. Misalignment of goals and motivations can lead to procrastination; business owners failing to make timely decisions or take action, because the motivation to move forward and at pace, simply isn’t there.
You’ve probably heard various coaches talking about how you need to ‘know your why’ – the reason you want to grow your business. But even this doesn’t go quite far enough. You see, if your conscious reason for doing what you do is not aligned with your own personal motivators, then it still won’t be enough to help you succeed. Often, these motivators can be unconscious. We can tell ourselves we’re motivated by one thing because it conforms with what we believe others expect of us or indeed what we want to believe of ourselves. However, our real motivator might be something entirely different.
Knowing what motivates you, before you plan your business direction, can ensure you stay focused and create a business which delivers what you want. With a motivational map profile, your answers to a series of questions will reveal which of the nine key motivators are most crucial to you. And getting to the heart of your motivation will allow you to plan a direction for success.
Discover the right direction for you
All businesses face challenges and obstacles and keeping motivated is key to pushing through these tougher times. In other words, you need to consider both logical and emotional factors when planning for success.
As a Motivational Maps Practitioner and Business Mentor, Lesley Jones can reveal what motivates you, and support you in planning the right direction for your business. Whether you’re looking to take the next growth step or wish to plan your exit in a few years' time, get in touch to find out more about how we can help guide you to success.
