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“You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going because you might not get there.”

—Yogi Berra

I got a call two weeks ago to present a business plan to a cooperative interested in setting up a grocery shop. I immediately buried myself into research and came out with a conservative plan to create a successful modernize 250 square meter retail outfit in a conservative location. It was not even the share work of developing this plan that shocked me but the vibe I picked up during the actual presentation – its one thing to create a plan and it’s another thing to interpret it.

If you really did not get my earlier statement, let me make it simpler – you could read my article easily but you could find it difficult to create your own. In the context of a business plan, the situation is quite different – most people do not know how to interpret a business plan not to talk of creating one. Well, let’s put this in perspective; if an architect gives you the plan of a house, you may find it a bit difficult to understand it except the architect puts you through.

I realize that understanding the financial end of the business plan is where I drew a block with my audience and ironically, the financial side of the plan is the earth of the plan. There was really nothing I could do about this situation; this situation was similar to teaching Yoruba Proverbs to an Igbo man, who just came to Lagos for the first time. The Igbo man has to understand the Yoruba Language first before comprehending the proverbs.

I started thinking about it in a deeper sense; almost every grown adult is into one business or the other. If you do not own the business, you are working for a business. How many people have a plan? I am not talking about a business plan; I mean a personal plan of how you want your life to be say in 5 years. I am not talking about concocting a plan in your head; I mean documenting what you truly want and deriving various paths to getting there.

The beauty about documenting rather than just having head knowledge is that it clarifies and strengthens your belief towards the plan. It forces you to assess every move you make with respect to the plan you document. I am not implying that a documented plan will come out as written – the eventual outcome could be far better than what was documented or close to it. Personally, when I document a life plan, the outcome always exceeds my expectation.

There is a huge difference in a planned project and the unplanned project – The book of Ezra in chapter 3, pointed succinctly the difference between the temple built by Solomon and the one built by Cyrus. Verse 12 pointed to the fact that the old men who remembered Solomon’s beautiful temple wept aloud while others who did not see the Solomon’s temple were happy. The temple of Solomon was as result of careful planning (check 1^st King 6 and 7 cross reference with 2nd Chronicles 3 and 4).

This is why it is important to build businesses that would cause people to weep when the business is no more. Any business that must stand the test of time requires accurate planning hence understanding, interpreting and developing a business plan is a must for any serious business owner. While under paid employment, I felt I did not need a business plan to succeed in business and I paid dearly for it when I became self-employed thrown in the street jungle, the wisdom of not just developing a plan but a detailed plan is imminent.

There is really no shame if you have been in business and cannot develop a standard business plan. My late father was a stock aficionado so he receives tons and tons of company annual reports and I picked up some registers along this line but I actually learnt while in paid employment because for most proposals that were brought forward by my team, we were asked to develop a business case. This was a great exposure and led me to my MBA courses and research; well, I can say I am a guru now because the least amount I collect for developing a customized business case report is 120K Naira which excludes research and miscellaneous cost.

Well, in order to save forward thinking individuals who know that business venture is a likely future endeavor, those who are doing business now and those who may need to collect facility from the bank, the huge cost of paying consultants for developing business plan, I am organizing a 2-day BUSINESS PLAN WORKSHOP in line with our mission to empower Nigerians financially:

Highlight of Work Shop

1. Break-even Analysis
2. Profit and Loss Forecast
3. Cash Flow Forecast and Management
4. Capital Spending Plan
5. Marketing and Personnel Plan
6. Selling Your Business Plan
7. SWOT Analysis

Perks for Attending the Workshop

1. Every participant will be going home with the DVD; “The Secret”. This is a highly popular film that would teach you the importance of visualization and utilizing the law of attraction. A business plan would help you crystallize your dream vision.
2. Every participant would be going home with a high quality webcam: Pictures they say speak louder than words. Being able to see who you are communicating with is powerful. This tool would enable you capture your dream moments and you can record your video confessions and see them come to fruition.
3. The Apple iPhone is the star prize for the participant with best business plan.

Date: September 19^th and 20^th, 2009

Time: 11.00 am

Venue: Imperial Chinese Restaurant, Ajose Adeogun, VI

Fee: Fifteen Thousand Naira (N15, 000) flat

Participant: Only 10 people

If you are interested, please note that all payments must be made before 31^st of August, 2009. Late fee commands an extra N5000. Please, kindly click HERE to indicate interest and get bank info. For those who are interested in opening a grocery store in future, I have an abridged version of the business plan presentation I did for the cooperative; you may click HERE to get it. Unfortunately, some other elements like cash flow management, SWOT analysis and Capital Spending Plan are missing together with some important footnotes. There is also a very important element missing in the cost summation; if you can get it, I would give you a FREE DVD; “The Secret”.

Have a wonderful week!