More often than not business owners talk about business plans in elusive terms, leaving one to wonder if they will ever write one at all. How often have you heard – “I wrote one then put it on the shelf,” “Our plan is out of date – it’s useless,” “It’s too long – no one will read it,” or my favorite – “I’ll pay a consultant to write one!”

Too often the focus has been on writing your plan. I am suggesting a better focus – implementing your plan. Implement it by asking 5 key questions. So, let’s review the 5 key questions, apply them to your business, and discuss next steps.

This process is not new. Some years ago Jim Horan founded The One Page Business Plan Company expressly to help business owners define and implement their plan. He simplified the process by identifying the standard elements of a business plan with 5 simple, universal questions.

1. Vision: What are you building?

2. Mission: Why does your business exist?

3. Objectives: What results will you measure?

4. Strategy: How will you build this company?

5. Plans: What is the work to be done?

Your Vision – What are you building? Simple enough? Where are you now, where do you want to be in 5 years – can you define it in terms of sales, target markets, products and services, and geographic reach? Oftentimes business owners are challenged to answer this question, but when they focus on it – watch out, the dream reignites and the creative energy starts to flow again.

Your Mission – Why does your business exist? Think brand, think benefits (especially when viewed through the eyes of your customer), and think simple, direct, and memorable. What is the Mission of Burger King, of FedEx?

Your Objectives – What results will you measure? What did your gross in sales last year? What do you want to achieve for sales this year? What other goals do you have for your business? Don’t have goals yet? Getting very focused and specific is a key ingredient to your success. Prioritize them and clearly state them.

Your Strategy – How are you going to build your company? What specific strategies and programs do you need to develop and implement to get you there? Think multi-year, look at marketing, sales, organization, technology, process change, human resources. Get the picture?

Your Plans – What work needs to be done? Well, every year you need a plan to get you from point A to point B. How are you going to accomplish your vision, your mission, your objectives, and your strategies? Can you develop a series of action steps to help you get there this year? Do they tie into your other plan elements?

Preparing and implementing a business plan requires a strong, exacting, specific, goals-oriented focus. Simpler is often better. If you can prepare it on one page it will be easier to follow, easier to explain, easier to measure accomplishments, and, yes, easier to achieve the profitability and growth you have envisioned, perhaps in a shorter time frame than you planned. Now, how cool is that!

Try to work a plan that is action-oriented, that is goals-focused, that is top-of-mind every day. Working your business in this way increases the potential for your short term and longer term success. And, don’t let that plan become static. Make it a living, breathing organism, let it encourage you to improve it, update it, and enhance it as you move on your road to success.

Now that we have outlined these 5 simple questions, how about giving it a try? I would love to hear from you. Need any help, let me know.