A business plan is like a game plan to help your business run successfully without any glitches. You can use it to accomplish your goals, monitor your progress, evaluate your performance, and much more. Chances are, the plan you had in place when the business first opened its doors no longer serves its purpose. Even if it’s just new growth or shifting business objectives, a lot can happen in five years.
The following eight signs suggest that you should review your business plan.
- New goods or services
A very important part of your business plan is your line of goods and services. Any plans to alter or improve these will have an effect on both your profitability and resource management.
It’s time to revise your plan whenever a change like this occurs. Think about asking your investors and dependable employees for their opinions and suggestions on how to modify your business plan to take these changes into account.
- Stronger competition
To maintain your competitive edge, it’s important to stay up-to-date with what others are doing. Every time a significant competitor changes course or a new player enters the market, you should refer to your business plan. Your business needs to be ready to take on new, more powerful rivals who are increasingly aiming their marketing efforts at your customers. According to a proverb, if you don’t seem to care for your customers, someone else will.
- Evolving customer needs
Your target market’s preferences might change over time. Your business plan should account for these changes, foresee them, and explain how the product will adapt to changing consumer preferences or how your new core market will be identified and maintained.
- New vendors or technologies
Your supply chain may need to be altered in order to reduce costs, keep up with the competition, and increase efficiency. For instance, upgrading to new software can increase your business’ productivity. Include these changes in your business plan as they are important for investors to know
- Changing to meet the demands of evolving markets
The way you manage your time and resources will drastically change as your business grows into new markets and crosses international borders. Your business plan may need to be updated due to shifting consumer preferences, consumer attitudes, and consumer trends, as well as shifting regulatory environments.
A business plan can assist you in setting appropriate goals and choosing the best course of action when trying to expand into new markets.
- Internal process modifications
When your business experiences major internal changes, such as hiring new management or experiencing fast growth, it is important to reevaluate your business plan and make any necessary revisions.
- A change in the cash flow and financial situation
If your business’s financial situation is likely to change, then you should include an updated version of the costs and opportunities you are likely to face in your business plan.
Your business plan must include a cash flow forecast because it will let the stakeholders know how much money is anticipated to flow into and out of the company over a specific time period. Without a precise forecast of its cash flow, a business cannot control its spending.
- You currently have a flawed or out-of-date business plan.
It’s possible that the first draft of your plan was inadequate, or perhaps things have been changing more quickly than you anticipated. A revision of your business plan is definitely in order if it no longer accurately reflects its current state.
In conclusion:
Reviewing your business plan has a number of advantages. One benefit of doing this is that it keeps your business on course or informs you as to whether a change in course is worthwhile. It may turn out that the objectives you set when you wrote the plan were unrealistic and overly idealistic. If so, you can change them to make them more realistic. It’s also possible that when you wrote your plan and outlined the steps your business will take over the next few years, you didn’t set your sights high enough. If you are performing better than expected, going back and reviewing your plan will allow you to see how you can modify it to best meet the needs of your business at this time.
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About Dukka
Dukka is a leading bookkeeping and payments app. We provide solutions for bookkeeping, payments, cash flow management, and access to finance for small businesses in Africa. We are building an OS for commerce for African merchants.
To learn more about what Dukka is doing or to have a general chat, visit Dukka.com.
