Strategy in the business plan

In a meeting with what would be called an “Angel” of Investment Funds, he told me: “I believe less and less in the Business Plans that are presented to me because they all give the results that they are expected to achieve. What I do trust is in the teams that carry them out, in the how, and in the strategies that they implement. And if they failed in other initiatives before, they have an additional value, they have already learned and try again. Your contingency plans will be more accurate and my risks will be lower”

So, let's rethink the concept of what a business plan is: a guide for the entrepreneur or business owner. A document where a process is described by areas of analysis, the market situation is known and the actions that will be carried out in the future are established, together with the corresponding strategies that will be implemented.

It is in itself an instrument that allows communicating an idea to sell it or obtain a positive response from investors.

And a tool for internal use that allows evaluating the viability of an idea and specifying a follow-up of its implementation; an analysis and testing platform, in which many projects that are not necessarily central today, or even secondary ones that may need more time and dedication to achieve the expected success, can be archived.

It also indicates the objectives to be met and must include the details of each action plan necessary to achieve them.

On the other hand, it must be drawn up in such a way that it can be updated with the changes that are typical of the dynamism of the market, the context, and the situation of the company.

The preparation of contingency plans is another of the most important aspects of business management. The fact of having them is a kind of insurance against the inconveniences that arise during daily work since it offers possible solutions and alternatives thought out beforehand.

Many times, large companies and smaller SMEs make the same mistake of considering that the success of the past will be repeated if a similar plan is followed, and this can inexorably lead to mistakes with no return.

"The market, especially today, constantly changes trends, is easily saturated with new products and services and demands to be surprised every minute."

Drawing up a plan to create a business that would take time for research and development plus others for testing, launching mass production and advertising promotion is a risk that was very common not so many decades ago, but that fewer and fewer companies are willing to take.

Fortunately, with new technologies and in many sectors, it is cheaper and more effective to experiment and fail than to do nothing just by researching.

It is very difficult to understand and anticipate consumer tastes in the short term, let alone in the relatively distant future.

"But as in all interpersonal relationships, both companies and their audience are responsible for the crisis of loyalty that current products and services suffer."

Returning to the initial anecdote, I left with the doubt about what is the hierarchy of the key concepts that are in the reflection with which he challenged us to think.

And it seems to me that they are STRATEGY, TEAM, and CREDIBILITY, above all else.

"Throughout our professional career we have been attracted by the challenge of achieving extraordinary results and we have verified that the key lies in trying to transform work groups into high-performance teams."

I think of it as the generation from the leadership of the necessary conditions that facilitate dynamics and motivations for this to happen efficiently.

"The most effective method to find innovative alternatives is to analyze inspiring areas, in which valid and applicable instruments or strategies are used".

For example, when I see some sport, a product, a rare mechanism, I ask myself why it is done that way, what causes it to happen that way, how it will be done to … etc., with an equivalent dose of curiosity and will, naivety and ignorance.

Much more than pedaling forward

My addiction to channel surfing recently led me to a documentary about the Tour of France and the world of competitive cycling. Let me recognize at first glance that it is unattractive for those who do not practice it. A sport as simple as riding a bike and you want to get there first.

I stopped to think about what makes it from 1903 to today such an important and increasingly significant event for many people in a sport that is collective there.

"The answers we found are not based only on the individual performance of an elite athlete, but on the deployment of the best tactics that make a team win over the rest."

To start with the obvious – which, as in general, is not so obvious - the objective of participating in a race is to win it, to arrive before the others. It happens in business too.

For that, there are keys to succeed there that apply in many areas:

- Team support

- Speed

- Acceleration

- Position

If one of them fails, success will not be achieved and all the previous effort will be useless.

- Team support: We need the support and knowledge that others can give, otherwise we “pay” expensively for the learning and contributions that they can give us.

In other words, it is one of the ways to approach a strategy that has worked before and we need to understand – and adapt to our situation – to innovate based on it, with humility.

– Stop wasting time (which is money) trying to figure out how to make the least effort, take the shortcut, skip steps.

If it has already been achieved, let's try to add its services and we will save energy invested aimlessly. And if there are no resources to access them, let's contact someone who has done so to get closer to some of that information.

And this is essential: people who have succeeded know the strategy that works, and it is very useful to know those paths. Otherwise, it will also be possible but much more difficult and frustration is a temptation to abandon.

- Speed: You have to be constant and know what speed the strategy requires.

To arrive inexorably, you have to go a long way before reaching your goals. It is useless to be the first for a few seconds if fatigue overcomes and you end up being last or abandoning.

– Plan this “distance” race. Start from the beginning of each topic as if you were going to write on a "blank piece of paper" what you want to achieve realistically, put deadlines and dates for each step. It's that simple.

- Acceleration: And if there is something important, it is knowing when and who should do each thing.

There is a time for every situation that takes time and process. If you don't do what you should, the work is useless.

Knowing when to speed up will make everything easier and consume fewer resources. And how do you know when to do each thing?  By asking.

- Position: It depends on the qualities.

In the case of the sprinter and the team, each one knows what they have to do because it is what they do best or what they have worked the most on.

"To have more chances of succeeding, you must look for your strength and that of each member of the team to strengthen each other, that is, add those who complement us to work with intensity and commitment for the same objectives".

This essentially means not trying to do the work alone because it will be unproductive and perhaps even too late to remedy that decision.

For all this, I repeat: "there is a team, only if there is a strategy".

"What was said is not in the belief of having achieved success, but at least to share here a strategy to try it, which is ultimately the true BUSINESS PLAN to formulate."

It is not an easy task, I replied, thus closing the open debate.

I know that I can help you, but even more, so that I can help each other.

Let's talk!

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