Plan to succeed and kick failure into touch   28 Aug 2014

The Mud

Plan to succeed and kick failure into touch

(Published at In a City Business - www.themud.co.nz)

By Michelle Hill, Partner at BDO Rotorua

27 August 2014

Failure is a constant unwelcome companion for new businesses but what does success look like?

You might’ve seen the made-for-TV movie recently about Stephen Donald’s famous kick to put the Rugby World Cup out of the reach of their opponents for the All Blacks. Do you think Donald stood behind the ball thinking about how he was going to miss the goal? We saw how he continued practicing and staying fit in spite of being dropped from the team.

Whereas Donald was a seasoned professional, so had previous successes and failures to fall back on, many owners of new businesses don’t have that experience and can be overwhelmed by the difficulties they face.

Between 50 per cent and 75 per cent of small businesses fail within three years of starting, an unfortunate statistic that could be significantly reduced if more businesses were asking themselves a critical question - what does success look like for me?

Identifying this factor is a big part of developing a business plan. Once in place, a business plan can help you avoid becoming part of that unfortunate statistic because, quite simply, failing to plan is planning to fail.

A business plan needs to encompass your goals - what you want to achieve in and from your business, how you plan to meet these goals and measurable steps to ensure you are achieving them.

Writing and putting a business plan in place will help you to:

• Objectively analyse your strengths and weaknesses and how you plan to reduce weakness and build strengths. Likewise, assess and plan around threats.

• Pinpoint areas where you need to improve your performance.

• Identify opportunities in your businesses that you may have overlooked.

• Review your current products and services for any problems and how you can better use assets and/or abilities.

• Set weekly and monthly targets, providing operating tools to help you compare current performance against the plan to regularly determine deviations.

• Put your decisions in writing to enable ongoing referencing and critical examination.

• Have an essential aid in securing financial support from bankers, financiers and other partners relative to your business operations.

• Analyse risk management, another key element. Future-proof the business by exploring and assessing what would happen in a number of scenarios involving an accident or even the death of the principal of the business and ensure strategies are in place to mitigate these risks.

Once your plan is completed, ensure copies are provided to key professionals supporting your business, such as your solicitor and chartered accountant. It has to become a part of your business systems so that if one of the risks does occur there is a well thought out strategy.

If the business is planning for a period of growth then a whole new range of management skills and controls are required. If these are not planned for, then the growth will not occur.

Finally, make it a living working document, a reference point to compare where your business is at against where it planned to be. If there are any deviations, investigate them immediately and take corrective action.

Planning to succeed means you can kick thoughts of failure into touch.

about you.


Add a comment

News

Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students

29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more

New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process

7 Mar 2020 News By Rt HON WINSTON PETERS
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more

Business

NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19

17 Mar 2020 Business News By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more

NZ Government announces aviation relief package

19 Mar 2020 Business News By Hon Phil Twyford
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more

Living

Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London

6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall. It was the first... more

Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate

12 Jan 2022 Arts By Charlotte Everett
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...  New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more

Property

Fairer rules for tenants and landlords

17 Nov 2019 Property By Minister Kris Faafoi
17 NOVEMBER 2019 The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more

New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax

17 Apr 2019 Property By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more

Migration

Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued

19 Nov 2019 Migration By Hon Iain Lees-Galloway
19 NOVEMBER 2019 We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more

Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location

18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018 HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more

Travel

Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled

19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more

New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas

19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas more

Sport

The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners

27 Oct 2019 Cricket By Charlotte Everett
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more

PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final

26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more

Columns

Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade

11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade First published on Werewolf The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more

Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome

10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell   Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more

Kiwi Success

Congratulations to Loder Cup winner

26 Sep 2018 People By Hon Eugenie Sage
25 SEPTEMBER 2018 The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more

Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO

16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO HON JENNY SALESA Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more

Recruitment

Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers

14 Aug 2018 Recruitment By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers RT HON JACINDA ARDERN HON CHRIS HIPKINS Prime Minister The... more

Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers

22 Aug 2018 Recruitment By RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers RT HON JACINDA ARDERN HON CHRIS HIPKINS Prime Minister The... more