Writing your business plan before starting your business is one thing, but the business finance revision of the plan on a regular basis is another thing. The business finance revision of the plan would need to be done from time to time simply because so many things change rapidly. Even if there was a strategy that used to work in the past, it might not work anymore and you might be forced to do a business finance revision your strategies and the whole plan. Create your very own giant venture.
- Learn to use constructive criticism to your advantage. It is true that sometimes listening to criticism might be hard, but if somebody has to say something about your business and he is right about it, then you need not hesitate to listen to him, do a business finance revision and implement his advice in your business plan.
- Make sure during the business finance revision of the plan, the data you included in your business plan is accurate and up-to-date. Since many things change every day, what used be true yesterday does not have to be true today.
- Check regularly whether your ideas worked in the past. Also, check regularly whether your business plan worked and whether your business follows the path you described in your business plan. If your business follows a different route and is getting you money, then do not hesitate to adjust your business plan and do a business finance revision of the plan to the new path. Remember that your business plan can be flexible if this is what you want it to be.
Before going to the wholesale business finance revision of a plan, we need to first establish that without a regular review – monthly or at least a quarterly review of plan compared to its actual results, with practical analysis of the reasons for variance, planning is most likely to be a waste of time.
Real planning requires regular reviews. Thus every real plan needs to have specific dates, budgets, forecasts, and management responsibilities. People involved with it have to know there will be tracking and following up involved on specifics. Then that plan must be reviewed against results, and then those reviews should produce fine tuning and corrections.
Generally, a business hopes for a consistent long-term strategy built on short-step incremental changes, not major business finance revisions. Consistency is important to scheme and the business should avoid the temptation to jump around from one scheme to another so quickly that no strategy is ever implemented for real. Even a mediocre strategy which has been implemented well and consistently during the business finance revision of the plan is much better than an excellent strategy that wasn’t implemented.
However, businesses do come to a point of demanding major business finance revisions.
These are some signs indicating that it is time to review and do a business finance revision:
- Major changes in the market situation
- Look out for changing market factors, changing market behavior.
- Have your fundamental business assumptions changed?
For an easy example, the Internet has changed the business landscape so tremendously and on such a large scale that in some industries almost any plan that was developed without a view of the Internet may need business finance revision. The same may not be true for a restaurant, but for a travel agent or a graphic artist, it’s apparent.
Do you have a new competition? Have new competitors emerged, or existing competitors changed the business landscape so much that you need to review the plan and have a business finance revision?
For example a new technology may have come forth, changing the perception of the market of the product of service you sell. There may be new products or services offering related solutions to the same user needs you satisfy.
The most visible major changes are changes in ownership, which are frequently the result of changing partnerships, deaths, divorces and investment. The company takes on new partners, or sells itself out to a bigger organization. On a more forbidding note, the company suffers significant declines in profits, sales and financial health.
Always keep the business finance revision in perspective. While you do want to review and perform a business finance revision on a regular basis, you don’t want to change a strategy or a plan unless you are sure it isn’t working or you see real changes in the underlying assumptions that formed the foundations of strategy.
During the business finance revision of a plan, or writing one for the first time, the emphasis should always be on the consumer. There are many small business owners who are so struck with their own ideas that they spend paragraph after paragraph writing about its potential without identifying who might actually use it. Before you can sell even the most innovative of the ideas, you have to know who is buying it. Pay attention to your customers; get a feedback about how your product or service is working for them. Ask how it could be improved. Use all this information to strengthen your business plan and successfully will help you in business finance revision of the plan. How exactly you are going to help your customers should be the important aspect of your plan, regardless of how that thesis may evolve over time.
Before a business finance revision of a plan, you need to be realistic about how many people your product or service is going to reach. Given the changes in technology and the economy, the number of people who will use your service will change. This could mean your plan of business finance revision would be in accordance of your product or service, and the way and medium through which you would sell it.
If, through managing your business, you discover a key skill you and your team lacks it, be open about it in your business plan, especially if you are trying to attract investors. This may seem counterintuitive, but hiding your shortcomings will only ensure that they remain shortcomings. Be open about what you lack and present investors with the opportunity to help you address the deficit.
With a constantly evolving market and the needs and requirements of consumers changing everyday, it is extremely important to review your business strategies frequently and on a regular basis and do a business finance revision of your goals and plans.