We’ve been talking in these early posts about Mission, Vision, Values, Principles, Competencies, Gifts, Talents, and Experience.  This conceptual foundation we’ve been building is the cornerstone of your business.  Think of it as the heart and soul of your organization.  Now it’s time to start on the superstructure, or in human terms, the brains, muscle, bones, and blood of your business.  In business terms we’re working on the strategy, systems, structure, and people that provide a framework or superstructure and give life to your organization.

There’s a reason for listing those components in that particular sequence and it relates to being a purpose driven organization.  Without a purpose, there’s no reason for the rest.  With a purpose, we can identify our potential customers or market, define a strategy for delivering on our purpose, create the systems or processes essential to delivery, build the structure necessary to keep everything organized, and acquire and train, as necessary, the human resources necessary to make it all work.

In my next series of posts we’ll be concentrating on the strategy, or business plan, for your organization.

In preparation, let’s talk about the “business plan”, starting with this advice, don’t let it scare you!  You may think of it as a whole bunch of numbers as in a budget, or a road map, or a loan application, or even a complete book on running your business.  Well it can be all of those things, and more, and that’s a good thing because, once you’ve put it all together you’ll be able to keep your processes and your people focused on delivering exactly what you’re promising your customers and owners.  You’ll be able to use all of your resources wisely and effectively, keep costs in check, and, if successful, be rewarded with the profits, both financial and otherwise, from serving your purpose and achieving your goals.

Your business plan is the opportunity to identify your long term objectives, the resources and processes you need, and the ways you’ll recognize success; think of them as your personal and team success objectives.  If your organization starts to lose its way, a quick check of the business plan should help get you back on track.

Also, your business plan is where you start to make your organization’s performance personal.  With a clear and comprehensive plan, people can see where they fit, and what their part will be.  They can begin to align themselves by defining their expectations of you and what they think you expect of them.  And you can do the same.  Every piece of your plan will require one or more actions on someone’s part to make it happen.  With your business plan as the source of all the tasks your organization will complete, and your conceptual foundation as the source of the behaviors you and your people will display, you’ll have the critical building blocks of success in place.

Next up, the essential components of your business plan!