Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Having a business plan is a terrific tool for you to have if you use it for the right purpose. There is a part of it needed that defines everything that the business is. And there is another part if used wrongly can destroy a business.

Now the part that you can't do without is that which defines the purpose of your business or why you're in business in the first place. This you cannot do without. There is no more important thing to comprehend and have written down than this. It will guide everything from hiring to marketing. If you ever need to engage banks, investors or lenders of any type, it is a prerequisite. You can't even enter that part of the game without it.

Inevitably, the time comes when you write down the means that you are going to use to accomplish the purpose that you have embraced. It is here that great weaknesses abound.

It is the unfortunate demise of many businesses that happen because people mistake the means for the purpose of the business. The means to the end have to be held very lightly and be ready to be changed at a moments notice, whereas the purpose of the business should never change.

Don't fall in love or become stubborn in reference to the ever-changing way to accomplish your businesses goals. A business plan needs to address these in a loosley held way. Be always ready to adapt and change course or you will become one of the many statistics that never knew what hit them.

So in closing remember this: Never change the purpose that you wrote down in your plan, but always be looking for ways to better operate the means. Do that and you should have a solid, healthy business that lasts as long as you wish it to.