I know firsthand that the business planning process can be overwhelming. To make your plan for next year, you have a long list of things to do, priorities to check off, and people to meet with.

After years of leading business planning at tech companies, I’ve moved into the role of business planning advisor. Every year, I work with channel managers and business unit leaders to edit, streamline, and reconfigure their business plans.

Over the years, I’ve learned the trouble spots to look for. And I’ve learned why business planning matters so much in the first place: With a good business plan, you’re ready to meet quota, lead an engaged team, and start the year in a proactive way. Without a good business plan, you’re likely to miss quota, feel frustrated, and spend your time putting out the latest fire. 

What is a business plan?

Even if you have a lot of experience creating business plans, it’s good to remember why we make them. A business plan is a map. You’ll follow this map to get to your end state. 

• You’ll have milestones — with dates — along the way. 

• You’ll know who is responsible for what part of the trip.

• You’ll brainstorm contingency plans for things that may go wrong. 

• You’ll plan out your costs. 

If you veer off track, you’ll know in plenty of time to make adjustments. The end result: You’ll make it to your destination on time and on budget.

When we talk about a business plan, we’re not talking about an in-depth 50-page project plan. Instead, it’s more about finding a simple tool that works for you to track strategies, tactics, milestones, early indicators, owners, and due dates.

How can I improve my business plan?  

Business planning sounds simple enough, but time and again, the business planning process causes stress and frustration — and often, channel managers put off planning until the year has already begun. How can you avoid these common pitfalls? 

Here are the most common ways we help leaders improve their business planning:

1. Start earlier.

We’ve seen companies assign territories, quotas, and compensation plans 3 months into a new year. You don’t have to have a great imagination to know that these companies completely lost a quarter of selling time. In an ideal world, a business plan is complete before the new year begins. If you want to generate demand in January, you need your sales strategy, goals, assignments, and marketing plans ready before January. If you’re used to working on your business plan in January and February (and not generating any demand until the second quarter), you have the power to improve that timeline. 

2. Make sure every job has an owner.

List one name next to each tactic for clear accountability. Any tactic without an owner is unlikely to get done. Similarly, the more names assigned to a tactic, the less likely that tactic will be done. If you’re launching a new product, decide who is responsible for building each component of the marketing plan, from branding to awareness to demand. 

3. Set a clear timeline. 

To keep everyone moving forward, you need to set clear expectations on timeline. A solid plan will list a due date next to each key tactic. In that new product launch, what are the most important milestones in each component of the marketing plan, and when is each due in order to meet your launch date?

4. Identify early indicators. 

Even the best-laid plans will need to be adjusted along the way. We always build in early indicators so we know if we’re veering off track. An early indicator might be 4 partner executive meetings held in the first month in the quarter, or 50 partners enabled on a new product by a certain date. You can also look for more subjective indicators: the C-suite is taking my phone calls, my partner has adopted one of my suggestions, etc. Knowing if you’re on- or off-track within a quarter allows to you make real-time adjustments

5. Make a contingency plan. 

2020 has certainly thrown the world into a to-be-determined new-normal. While we were doing our business planning this year, a pandemic was not one of the potential derailers we identified. However, we recommend brainstorming risks and creating a mitigation plan for each of the risks. Think through some of the most likely scenarios and plan a ready-made response should you need it.

6. Build in a cushion.

“Over-operationalize” your targets. In an ideal world, every element of a business plan falls into place, and everyone delivers exactly what they committed to. But, in reality, we have never seen this ideal world! Someone or something will not deliver, and if you haven’t built in any cushion, you’ll come up short. Allocate more of your target than you’ve been given to build in this breathing room.

7. Include your partners in the planning process. 

Finally, if you want your channel partners to help you sell your solutions and work toward your vision, they need to know your plan! They need to know where you’re placing your bets so that they can align their planning in the same areas (markets, customer segments, solutions) and amplify the same messages. Show your partners that they’re critical to your success.

Do you need a business planning advisor? We’re here to help. 

Read how we helped Konica Minolta Business Solutions transform their business planning process.