When was the last time you looked at, or even thought about your business plan?

Is it a living document that you visit every time you have a spare moment, that informs you of what to do next, or is it gathering dust on your shelf?

For all too many of us, our business plans were an exercise that we completed at some point either when we started up or to get a loan. We struggled along, did the finances, closed the document, wiped our brows and stuck the files away, never to look at it again.
 

Time to dust it off

How long has it been? And how much has your business changed? How much have you changed?

Today’s supply chain demands that small veteran-owned businesses find ways to link up with other businesses in order to have a larger footprint. Chances are that wasn’t a part of your business plan when you started out. Chances are that you planned to get a certain size, and you may or may not have achieved that dream.

Many companies reach $100k or thereabouts and plateau, or several hundred thousand, and find their ceiling. At that level, they are going to be a Tier 3, 4 or 5 company to most multi-billion dollar corporations at best.

If you want to move up the supply chain, you must get larger. And in many cases, that means a joint venture, an LLC, some sort of collaboration with another company. It’s time to take out that business plan and rethink your future.
 

Going nowhere

If you have no plan, you’ll accomplish nothing. Whatever you may have thought back when you started probably isn’t true for today, so it’s time to accommodate today’s clients are demanding, and that is a collaborative supplier base.

Rewrite your business plan to find partners who share your values and business goals. Prepare to establish a joint venture for bigger projects. It’s amazing what you accomplish when you commit to achievements in your business plan.

It may mean letting go of your logo to form another company. Has your logo become a logjam on your way to riches and achievement? Let it go, and let your creative imagination take you to new places. It’s a new world. Your old business plan may be keeping you back; an old picture based on old economic assumptions and a world that no longer exits.

Once you have created a new plan you will have made a deep internal commitment to something new, and opportunities will start to show up. This is because mentally you have made room for it- and you will start to look for those opportunities. Look for connections with other disabled vets, minority-owned businesses, or women-owned businesses. How can you support others to succeed? What creative solutions can you offer your clients by working together? It’s all about solving problems for your clients.

Is it time to dust off that old business plan and give it a new life? Good luck!

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