wallydownundy

Friends who run their own businesses all have an opinion on a business plan.  All say the process is invaluable.  Yet one says keep it short and sweet - no more than 2-3 pages.  She says the business will shift in the first year and a detailed plan will only become redundant.

Another small business operator says a detailed plan is vital.  Yet he also admits to not having done one until a year into the business. 

So what’s the best option? Seems a short, high-level directional plan is good to begin followed by a more detailed plan. 

Let me ask you - do you know your company’s business plan? How frequently is it updated? I’m not talking about financial forecasts (and re-forecasts!). 

How valuable has the business plan been to you - and your business?

Mel Brooks directed and stars in a spoof on all of life’s psychoses.  “High Anxiety” is a send-up of Hitchcock and central to the story are Mel’s various neuroses.  He’s nowhere near as screwed up as “Monk” but still he finds his anxieties paralysing at times.

Maybe he should have started his own business!

I vascilate between absolute certainty and downright paranoia.  Some days I’m flying along and working great.  Other days I fret over uncompleted Excel forecasts. 

It is an exciting time but let me say - not all the energy is positive!

I scroll down my postings and very few have attracted comments.  So you wonder - why bother?  Yet the statistics aren’t that sad - in the last 24 hours 60 people have been in for a read.  You’re all welcome - as would be your comments!

I am continually amazed by the calibre of people in their own communications business.  Just this week I learned that a former financial PR consultant is leaving an in-house role to set up an independent shop.  I’ve been introduced to a two person government relations firm that looks really impressive.  I’m now in the throes of establishing my own fim.  Are these others competitors - or collaborators?

It’s hard in the initial stages of business planning to think of the end game.  Where do you want the business to be in five years time?  Many, many firms were set up then sold - some for princely sums.  The rumoured price tag of indpendent firm Third Person is in the high seven figures - possible as high as eight figures.  Imagine!

So a business plan needs to consider the end game - even at the outset.  Where do I want this to be in five years - or ten?  If size and stature matter, then I need to consider collaborators. 

The best advice I got from a small business owner is to take my time.  Allow a plethora of options to float before me before making hard and fast decisions.  I don’t need to rush.  I do need to focus.  It’s hard not staring down the barrel of a deadline - but this period of “creative confusion” is really important.

I do a lot of executive coaching and I recall telling a CEO that we all rush decisions.  Sometimes the best thing to do is to live in a moment of creative confusion.  See what pops up.  See what ideas change - and what remains hard and fast.  Will I be a sole advisor in a few years, or will I have collaborated with other professionals?

I’ll ruminate and let you know later…

Spoke to a friend earlier today - I hadn’t caught up with Leanne at Sydney Symphony since I got the axe (the Company is on its 8th leader in Australia in 8 years!).  She said she hoped I was doing well.  She’d read my news in my blog - and was pleased by the positive tone. 

The blog is better than an old-fashioned telephone operator.  Do you remember Lily Tomlin’s old character Ernestine?

Leader of the Opposition Kevin Rudd went to a New York strip club four years ago.  He stayed 15 minutes and left before finishing his beer.  One rumour had him ejected for touching the dancers - that proved erroneous. 

So far, so good - all very plausible.

What is hard to believe is this story has made national news for two whole days! 

Part of the reporting is the sheer fun.  Rudd looks...bookish? Square? Old fashioned? He doesn't seem the type to hit the all night clubs in New York.  So some of the news is driven by the absolute relief that he's turning into a normal oaf - the kind (like us) who makes a silly mistake now and then.

But of course this is politics.  So the opposing camp is digging for dirt and splaying it in front of hungry media when it's found.  It would be interesting to see what those folks have in their closets...

This is Australian politics at its most ridiculous.  A man walks into a strip club, doesn't finish a beer, and it makes headlines four years later! 

Starting a business sounds romantic - lots of open-ended adventure, promises of fulfillment, an ability to craft a dream and make it real. 

Then you open a book on business planning…

Don’t get me wrong - I’m all for it.  In fact I see how it can save me from fundamental mistakes.  My friend Sarah says I’m good at so many things it doesn’t mean I should do all of them.  So the plan is a way to focus.  It also lets you create realistic financial plans (my son turns four in December - and he’s already in a private school!).

The plan creates a framework to build a business over a longer period of time.  It shouldn’t inhibit my entrepreneurial spirit - but when done right it’ll allow me to see if I’m on course or steering wide. 

Back to the books…

They make businesses when they’re on target.  And they leave people scratching their heads when they’re wrong.  It’s a business name - and I’m determined to establish a communications consulting firm to take advantage of my 23 years experience.

What do you call a firm that specialises in public relations? Globally the major firms are named after their founders: Edelman, Hill & Knowlton, Burson-Marsteller, Ketchum, Porter-Novelli, Manning Selvage Lee.  In Sydney local firms are mainly named after their founders: Cannings, Gavin Anderson, Savage & Partners, Horwath, etc.

Is it that simple? Do I tack my name on a shingle and hang out the “Open for Business” sign? 

Or maybe I need to “Thai Harder”…

So if your French is a little rusty, the title means “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” 

In this business you gain points for flexibility. 

Tuesday night at 7:30 the phone rings.  That’s when I no longer worked for the Company.  Seems change was brewing all around me and while I felt the undercurrent I never knew the change was that close.

Imagine how odd it feels to sense great relief.  It’s like shedding a stone of fret. 

I’m great at what I do - communications consulting.  I’m not so great at lots more - managing people, negotiating politics, handling contentious maneuvering. 

So it’s over.  And while no one likes to fail no one likes to live a horrible life, either.  The stress and anxiety and negativity is now behind me.  I can say goodbye to the Company and hello to my own company. 

Ready? You bet I am!