The Simple Truth:
Failing to Plan- A Plan to Fail
Planning. Although it seems simple, it’s the most neglected part of running a small business. So many times we are so consumed with the pressures of deadlines that we forget to run our business. There is a huge difference between performing business tasks and running the business.
The result is a company which reacts to problems and challenges after they occur instead of creating plans which counteract possible problems and make opportunity out of challenge. Ironically, the more you run your business without planning, the less likely you will be to change how you operate. That’s because once you develop the management style of taking on nothing but tasks, you begin to see planning or thinking time as a luxury or something unproductive. Once this mindset is established, all kinds of problems keep occurring.
There is a huge difference between performing business tasks and running the business. Without planning, your business has very limited potential for long-term success.
That’s because in business, much like everyday life, nothing stays the same. A strong business is one that continues to evolve because of what it has learned. If you run your business by concentrating on just the physical elements, you will eventually be running something which is outdated. One day you will look around and wonder why your business model isn’t working so well anymore and you will feel resentment because you worked so hard to build it. The problem is that physical work isn’t what grows business. Physical work maintains business. Mental planning and learning is what grows business.
So if we know this, why is it so common to avoid the mental aspect of business? I think the answer is that thinking and mental preparation isn’t the reason we started a framing business. We are framers because we love framing. We really don’t love running a small business. The truth is that if you run your business by focusing on the tasks, you really are not running a business, you are working for a business and that business has very limited potential for long-term success.
