In this episode, additionally, we delve into the importance of planning in business endeavours. As entrepreneurs, we're often enticed by spontaneity and agility, yet the question remains: is it truly viable to forgo meticulous planning? Let's explore the benefits of having a strategic roadmap and why it's paramount for sustainable success.

The Benefits of Planning

Guidance and Direction

Consequently, a plan acts as our North Star, providing clear direction amidst entrepreneurial chaos. Without it, we risk wandering aimlessly, encountering unnecessary detours and hurdles along the way. Moreover, having a well-defined plan not only sets the course but also instils confidence and purpose in our actions.

Risk Management

Meanwhile, while risk is inevitable, planning empowers us to anticipate and mitigate potential pitfalls. It's akin to preparing for a journey; by foreseeing delays and roadblocks, we can strategize alternative routes to navigate challenges effectively. This proactive approach not only minimizes disruptions but also enhances our ability to seize opportunities as they arise.

Clarity and Focus

Furthermore, articulating our goals through planning fosters clarity and focus. It forces us to prioritize tasks and allocate resources efficiently, ensuring everyone is aligned toward a common objective. By outlining specific milestones and deadlines, we create a roadmap that keeps us on track and motivated to achieve success.

Flexibility

However, contrary to popular belief, a plan isn't rigid—it's a living, breathing document that evolves with our business. Flexibility is key, enabling us to adapt to changing circumstances and seize emerging opportunities. By incorporating feedback and adjusting our strategies, we remain agile in an ever-evolving market landscape.

Practical Aspects of Planning

Financial Planning

Similarly, effective cash flow forecasting and budgeting are essential components of planning. They enable us to make informed decisions, ensuring financial stability during lean periods and periods of abundance. By closely monitoring our finances and identifying potential cash flow gaps, we can proactively address challenges and sustain our operations.

Accountability

Nonetheless, our plan serves as an accountability buddy, holding us responsible for actions and progress. It acts as a benchmark, keeping us disciplined and focused on achieving goals. Through regular reviews and updates, we stay accountable to ourselves and our stakeholders, driving continuous improvement and growth.

Conclusion

Ultimately, planning is undeniably good for your business. It provides direction, reduces risk, and fosters accountability. Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, investing time in strategic planning is crucial for long-term success. By embracing planning as a fundamental pillar of your business, you set the foundation for sustainable growth and prosperity.

As we wrap up, remember that it's never too late to start planning. By charting out a business plan and setting clear goals, we pave the way for a bright and prosperous future. So, take the first step today and embark on the journey to success through strategic planning.

Is it possible to be successful in your business endeavours and not to bother with planning, let alone having a plan? Short answer, absolutely. Is it to be recommended? Short answer, absolutely not. In this week's podcast, I'm going to go through the benefits of planning and having a plan, what you can achieve with such a mindset and an approach, and the problems that you can avoid

by adopting a planning mindset and actually having a plan.

You're listening to the I Hate Numbers podcast with Mahmood Reza. The I Hate Numbers podcast mission is to help your business survive and thrive by you better understanding and connecting with your numbers. Number love and care is what it's about. Tune in every week. Now here's your host, Mahmood Reza.

Imagine this, you've got a business idea you're excited about. You've got a new pivot, a new opportunity, you're ready to roll your sleeves up. You don't want to be distracted by the pain and poor experience of having a plan, but actually, you may find it's going to save you more heartache than you imagine.

I do come across businesses that manage to get to a successful place. However, they've defined that without the formality of planning in place. But what tends to happen is, it's not a sustainable proposition. They're not necessarily able to capture and navigate the challenges that lie ahead, grab hold of those opportunities when they come forward, without some form of roadmap in front of them.

Think of it this way. Your plan is like a GPS system. I would have said compass in a former time. It's a bit like a GPS system that's guiding towards the destination that you set yourself out. Whether you want to call that your Northern Star, your end goal, whatever term that fits mostly with you, your plan is that GPS system that helps get you where you need to.

Now, without that plan in place, you're likely to wander aimlessly around, chasing your tail, taking unnecessary detours, and facing unexpected hurdles along the way. It's important to remember that planning isn't a mystic mega exercise. It's not about perfectly predicting the future. It's not only just looking ahead, but it's also learning from your past as well.

Understanding where you've been and where you currently are in your business cycle. Whether you're an arts organisation, a charity, whether you're a freelancer, a manufacturing business, service business, it doesn't matter what shape and size you are, where you currently stand, whether it's at the start of your business journey, midway through your business journey or very maturely along the path is crucial for charting your success and your course forward.

Risk is something that will affect all of us, and planning has a great part to play in actually managing that risk that lies ahead. You can't avoid risk, by the way, folks, even if you stay at home hiding under your duvet, risk will rear its head at some point. Every single business venture will carry some degree of uncertainty.

In over 30 years of helping thousands of businesses, I've yet to come across a business venture that is risk-free. Doing nothing in itself also carries a degree of risk. Planning is useful because it helps mitigate and manage those risks. If we have some anticipation, some understanding, some awareness, what lies ahead,

those potential pitfalls, we can come up with plans and strategies to help overcome them. Just imagine you're planning your journey, you're going on holiday. If you know there are going to be delays, if you know they're going to be roadblocks, if you're driving by car, then you can suggest and think about detours that you can make.

You have a plan B. For those who say, that actually having a plan, plan C is a distracting force would not be something I would concur with. Being aware of what lies ahead, you're better prepared to weather any storm that comes your way. In addition, and we've got a whole list of benefits here that planning brings to us, it brings clarity and focus.

It helps you and it forces you to articulate your goals, not some wishy-washy stuff, but articulation, clarity, focus, smart goals if you wish. You can define your priorities and allocate those resources effectively. Now, whether you're a one-person operation or a large corporation, having a clear plan ensures everybody is on the same page and working towards a common

objective. When we hear a plan, by the way, folks, don't imagine it as a straitjacket. Don't imagine it as something that restricts your freedom of movement. Far from it. A plan is not set in stone. It's a living, breathing document. It evolves as your business grows, as your business develops, as circumstances change.

Flexibility is a watchword. It's the key here. You need to be able to adapt to new challenges and seize those opportunities that will come your way. I want to add in now a little bit about the practical sides of planning. The practical side of planning, in my experience, involves cash flow forecasting, involves budgeting, involves setting targets.

Planning provides you that toolbox that you need to manage your finances effectively. Once that moment you run out of cash, or the cash isn't there to service your business, then you might as well close the lights as you leave the building. Good financial planning, good cash flow planning anticipates those periods of time when cash flow is at a low and also when cash flow is more in abundance.

You can allocate your funds wisely, make those informed decisions about what you invest in and what actions you need to take to manage your cash flow. A real major overlooked aspect of planning is accountability. Your plan is your accountability buddy. A plan not only makes you accountable for your actions, it makes you responsible for them as well.

Accountability and responsibility, to my mind, go hand in hand. It serves as a benchmark where you can measure your progress, keeps you focused, it keeps you disciplined, and it helps you stay on track towards your goals. One of the things that puts a spoke in the wheels of business for many people is when they look at the future, they think far ahead, which is not bad

in its own right. And they don't break that down into what that looks like, on a week-by-week, month-by-month basis, where they should be, how they should be measuring their progress. Now, whether you are somebody who prefers a spreadsheet (who doesn't love a spreadsheet? - traditional paper still has its purposes),

the important thing is to have a plan that works for you. The actual mechanics, the mechanism of that plan, I'm a big fan of digital and I'm just going to mention Budgetwhizz. Check the show notes, by the way, for a link to a fantastic online planning tool we have called Budgetwhizz. This is a tool that helps you stay organised, focused, and staying on course to success.

So what's our concluding thoughts? Well, the concluding thoughts are, it is perfectly possible to run a business without a plan. I've met hundreds of businesses that operate fairly well without a plan, nothing formal there, nothing documented, and they're reactive businesses. However, to my mind, it's like sailing without a GPS system.

You may get lucky, you may get your destination, but you're more likely to veer off course, face challenges that you're unaware of, and perhaps go backwards on your course, go sideways, a few crashes along the way. And planning, for me, is the cornerstone of success. Gives us direction, reduces risk, fosters clarity and accountability.

Now, it's never too late to start. If you haven't already started thinking about planning, if you haven't thought ahead, if you haven't thought more than two or three weeks in front of you, which is a mistake in its own right, take some time, sit down, and chart out your business plan. Understand where you want to get to, set your clear goals, identify potential challenges, work with your team, your advisors, and outline your action plans, your strategies to overcome them.

I promise you, your future self will thank you for it. So folks, I hope you got some value out of this podcast. What do you think? Are you a planning person? Are you somebody who prefers to react on instinct and intuition? We're going to revisit planning as a topic over the next few weeks, but until next time folks, happy planning and here's to a bright and prosperous future for your business.

We hope you enjoyed this episode and appreciate you taking the time to listen to the show. We hope you got some value. If you did, then we'd love it if you shared the episode. We look forward to you joining us next week for another I Hate Numbers episode.