Are you REALLY prepared for success?
| Category: Business Development | Date: 2003-09-26 |
Plan A: "Heres the success I expect for my business in the first year (or three, or five years)."
Plan B: "Heres what I will do to adjust operations/tactics if Plan A falters."
If youre like most of the entrepreneurs I work with you have a well-prepared "Plan A" which SHOULD be the actual business plan for your business. Its a calculated, subjective look at the success you expect to have for your business in a specific period of time. Its supported by an action plan, revenue projections and includes a realistic timeline of milestones to accomplish your projected success. Yet, many of you also have an unwritten "Plan B" lurking in the back of your mind in case your business falls victim to an unforeseen change of economy, market, industry, etc. While expecting the best, you know its also wise to be prepared for the worst so you can recover, reevaluate and restructure to overcome obstacles and get back on track.
But let me ask you this: "Do you have a "Plan A+"?
By this I mean - are you prepared to EXCEED your expected success?
Heres an example of what Im talking about:
Just this past week I saw a television commercial that, in its non-verbal sixty-second wisdom, captured the elation-to-devastation scenario of a company not having a Plan A+. A group of people huddled around a computer, stare eagerly at the monitor awaiting the first indication of an on-line sale. The number "1" appears in the "orders" line. YES! Their faces show relief. Suddenly, the orders total "50" - their smiles grow wider. When the order counter climbs to 500, then 1,000, it was time for celebration and pats on the back. Astonishingly, the counter speeds to 10,000, then 50,000 and on to hundreds of thousands. Their elation turns to stunned disbelief, fear, and then panic. How are they ever going to fill all of these orders?
While many of us might say, "theres a problem Id love to have," the reality is that this "over succeeding" problem could devastate the business. When I think of the total current available inventory of my books - combining the inventory held at distributor locations, book stores, Amazon, and my own publisher stash - I couldnt even begin to fill that kind of demand. Could you?
It doesnt just happen with products. Many service businesses have put up Web sites offering the same services their brick and mortar counterparts offer. For instance, an executive search firm might offer free resume critique as a promotion to get new clients. Off-line, theyve done well with this promotion. But how will the same promotion work online where the "land of the freebie" reigns supreme and could generate thousands of requests in a single day? Can they accommodate these requests in a reasonable amount of time? Doubtful. Do you think theyll get or maintain
many clients if they dont follow through on the promise? Again - doubtful.
While the television commercial example of receiving nearly a million requests in the matter of a minute may be exaggerated, the concept itself is not unrealistic. It can happen off-line, and it can happen on-line. Have you ever received a rain check from a store because it ran out of the advertised special? You take the make good offer, but your resulting frustration doesnt reflect well on the store. And online, e-tailers (reluctantly) found themselves in the news last December because of an inability to fulfill orders on time-or at all. Its this reality that may well have inspired the creative team of that commercial I mentioned earlier.
What to do?
As always, the best defense is a good offense. If youre going to plan to be prepared for "the best" and "the worst" that could happen to your business, you might do well to consider preparing for "beyond your wildest dreams," too. You need to develop a Plan A+. Here are four tips to help you get started.
1. Under-assume and over-research.
Ah-h-h! the ever-dreaded "R" word! Upon hearing it clients usually roll their eyes, groan and glare at me with the hopes of my being able to suggest any other way. In my opinion, there is no other way. Research will transform "assumptions" into "fact-based knowledge." If you dont know what youre potentially going to be getting into, how can you devise a plan to get out of it? Review the research youve already conducted for your business. Look at past results, current conditions and pay close attention to any future trends that could make reasonable predictions spin out of control--upward OR downward. Understand the potential impact those trends could have on your business. If you dont have the time or dedication to do the research yourself, hire an ambitious business student to do it or find a library with a researching service at a nominal fee.
2. Exercise marketing and promotion restraint.
The key to managing the success of a marketing or promotion campaign is to build in control. While the temptation is strong to announce our service or product "to the world," take a step back to determine if, indeed, you could satisfy the demand that a global announcement could generate. Develop your plan in stages. Start small and, once you have a feel for the kind of response you get from a certain promotion or sales tactic, decide if rolling it out full force will be manageable. Work demographically if you can by doing a test promotion in a local market, then, depending on response, work into a regional market, then national, etc. If youre marketing on the Internet, target specific niche markets rather than trying to blanket "the world" - unless you know you can deliver.
3. Promote - track - analyze.
Next to having to do research, small businesses are often reluctant to spend time on tracking results of their promotions. If you choose not to take the time to track where sales are coming from, its almost as senseless as throwing money out the window! No matter how creative, how flashy, how calculated a promotion or marketing campaign is, the only good one is one that gets results. And the only way you know what is getting you results is to track it and analyze it. And once you know what is getting results, you will better be able to plan for the success that will come from increasing the frequency or extending your demographic reach using that same promotion.
4. Automate / streamline as much as possible
Reduce the risk of (welcomed) unexpected success from turning into (doomed) overwhelming success. How? By devising a consistent way to deliver your service or product - even if it is just for the short duration of a specific promotion. Streamline the process of cashing in coupons or receiving free gifts. Make it easy for your customers to get what you promised. Offline or online, know how youre going to handle higher volumes of customers, whether its from the traffic on an actual showroom floor, or traffic clicking through your Web site. Devise a delivery system and (offline) make sure every employee involved knows how it works, or (online) pretest it yourself so you know it works. Dont make customers wait, jump through a lot of hoops - or click through a lot of ads - to get what you promised.
Final words: The truth is that many of us will be lucky to reach our "Plan A" success status. Yet there is nothing more
exhilarating than imagining success beyond any realistic expectation and planning for it. This kind of "planning outside the box" may very well be the inspiration that leads to new opportunities in uncharted waters of your business potential.
About the Author
Susan Carter is a small business operations consultant and the author of How To Make Your Business Run Without You. Subscribe to her FREE twice-monthly e-zine at: successideas.com
or by sending an e-mail to Susan Carter
:To contact see details below.
nasus@webmailstation.com
http://www.successideas.com
Plan B: "Heres what I will do to adjust operations/tactics if Plan A falters."
If youre like most of the entrepreneurs I work with you have a well-prepared "Plan A" which SHOULD be the actual business plan for your business. Its a calculated, subjective look at the success you expect to have for your business in a specific period of time. Its supported by an action plan, revenue projections and includes a realistic timeline of milestones to accomplish your projected success. Yet, many of you also have an unwritten "Plan B" lurking in the back of your mind in case your business falls victim to an unforeseen change of economy, market, industry, etc. While expecting the best, you know its also wise to be prepared for the worst so you can recover, reevaluate and restructure to overcome obstacles and get back on track.
But let me ask you this: "Do you have a "Plan A+"?
By this I mean - are you prepared to EXCEED your expected success?
Heres an example of what Im talking about:
Just this past week I saw a television commercial that, in its non-verbal sixty-second wisdom, captured the elation-to-devastation scenario of a company not having a Plan A+. A group of people huddled around a computer, stare eagerly at the monitor awaiting the first indication of an on-line sale. The number "1" appears in the "orders" line. YES! Their faces show relief. Suddenly, the orders total "50" - their smiles grow wider. When the order counter climbs to 500, then 1,000, it was time for celebration and pats on the back. Astonishingly, the counter speeds to 10,000, then 50,000 and on to hundreds of thousands. Their elation turns to stunned disbelief, fear, and then panic. How are they ever going to fill all of these orders?
While many of us might say, "theres a problem Id love to have," the reality is that this "over succeeding" problem could devastate the business. When I think of the total current available inventory of my books - combining the inventory held at distributor locations, book stores, Amazon, and my own publisher stash - I couldnt even begin to fill that kind of demand. Could you?
It doesnt just happen with products. Many service businesses have put up Web sites offering the same services their brick and mortar counterparts offer. For instance, an executive search firm might offer free resume critique as a promotion to get new clients. Off-line, theyve done well with this promotion. But how will the same promotion work online where the "land of the freebie" reigns supreme and could generate thousands of requests in a single day? Can they accommodate these requests in a reasonable amount of time? Doubtful. Do you think theyll get or maintain
many clients if they dont follow through on the promise? Again - doubtful.
While the television commercial example of receiving nearly a million requests in the matter of a minute may be exaggerated, the concept itself is not unrealistic. It can happen off-line, and it can happen on-line. Have you ever received a rain check from a store because it ran out of the advertised special? You take the make good offer, but your resulting frustration doesnt reflect well on the store. And online, e-tailers (reluctantly) found themselves in the news last December because of an inability to fulfill orders on time-or at all. Its this reality that may well have inspired the creative team of that commercial I mentioned earlier.
What to do?
As always, the best defense is a good offense. If youre going to plan to be prepared for "the best" and "the worst" that could happen to your business, you might do well to consider preparing for "beyond your wildest dreams," too. You need to develop a Plan A+. Here are four tips to help you get started.
1. Under-assume and over-research.
Ah-h-h! the ever-dreaded "R" word! Upon hearing it clients usually roll their eyes, groan and glare at me with the hopes of my being able to suggest any other way. In my opinion, there is no other way. Research will transform "assumptions" into "fact-based knowledge." If you dont know what youre potentially going to be getting into, how can you devise a plan to get out of it? Review the research youve already conducted for your business. Look at past results, current conditions and pay close attention to any future trends that could make reasonable predictions spin out of control--upward OR downward. Understand the potential impact those trends could have on your business. If you dont have the time or dedication to do the research yourself, hire an ambitious business student to do it or find a library with a researching service at a nominal fee.
2. Exercise marketing and promotion restraint.
The key to managing the success of a marketing or promotion campaign is to build in control. While the temptation is strong to announce our service or product "to the world," take a step back to determine if, indeed, you could satisfy the demand that a global announcement could generate. Develop your plan in stages. Start small and, once you have a feel for the kind of response you get from a certain promotion or sales tactic, decide if rolling it out full force will be manageable. Work demographically if you can by doing a test promotion in a local market, then, depending on response, work into a regional market, then national, etc. If youre marketing on the Internet, target specific niche markets rather than trying to blanket "the world" - unless you know you can deliver.
3. Promote - track - analyze.
Next to having to do research, small businesses are often reluctant to spend time on tracking results of their promotions. If you choose not to take the time to track where sales are coming from, its almost as senseless as throwing money out the window! No matter how creative, how flashy, how calculated a promotion or marketing campaign is, the only good one is one that gets results. And the only way you know what is getting you results is to track it and analyze it. And once you know what is getting results, you will better be able to plan for the success that will come from increasing the frequency or extending your demographic reach using that same promotion.
4. Automate / streamline as much as possible
Reduce the risk of (welcomed) unexpected success from turning into (doomed) overwhelming success. How? By devising a consistent way to deliver your service or product - even if it is just for the short duration of a specific promotion. Streamline the process of cashing in coupons or receiving free gifts. Make it easy for your customers to get what you promised. Offline or online, know how youre going to handle higher volumes of customers, whether its from the traffic on an actual showroom floor, or traffic clicking through your Web site. Devise a delivery system and (offline) make sure every employee involved knows how it works, or (online) pretest it yourself so you know it works. Dont make customers wait, jump through a lot of hoops - or click through a lot of ads - to get what you promised.
Final words: The truth is that many of us will be lucky to reach our "Plan A" success status. Yet there is nothing more
exhilarating than imagining success beyond any realistic expectation and planning for it. This kind of "planning outside the box" may very well be the inspiration that leads to new opportunities in uncharted waters of your business potential.
About the Author
Susan Carter is a small business operations consultant and the author of How To Make Your Business Run Without You. Subscribe to her FREE twice-monthly e-zine at: successideas.com
or by sending an e-mail to Susan Carter
:To contact see details below.
nasus@webmailstation.com
http://www.successideas.com
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