FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

I was giving a seminar - The 10 Deadly Sins of Business Development - recently to a group of business owners and it struck me once again, how many people I meet who operate their business without a plan. They get up and go into work every day; they work hard; the end of the day comes and they feel like they have made no progress. They want their businesses to grow, to be more profitable, to get more customers but there is no strategic plan in place for how they are going to make this happen. Give your heads a shake, people! That is like me telling you to get in your car tomorrow and start driving to Chicago but not allowing you to use a map. Would you get there? Maybe - but it is a sure bet you would waste a lot of gas, time and energy figuring it out.

Having your business development plan in your head is not a recipe for success. So grab a pen and some paper. Turn off the phone; find a quiet spot and write down your plan. What kind of sales do you want to make? How many new customers do you want to find? What new products do you want to introduce? What new markets do you want to enter? Set down what you will accomplish and how you are going to make it happen. I am not talking about a full business plan here - just a page or two that is your roadmap for business growth. Then pull out your calendar and write down when you are going to get these things done. Do not let your business growth get lost in the day-to-day running of the business.

And finally, pull out your plan on a regular basis and check your progress. Whether it is monthly or quarterly, make sure you are measuring what is working well and what needs to be changed. This will keep you miles ahead of your competition.