Although statistics vary depending on the "when & where" they were compiled from it is generally agreed that some 95% of business do not partake of any formal business planning (we exclude the plans prepared for loan applications which are generally just a selection of guesswork and projected figures).
It has also been shown that some 83% of businesses do not last 5 years and, of the remaining 17% that do, 79% will not last the next 5 years. This means that some 96% of businesses do not last 10 years.
It's also a fact that some 97% of businesses are small businesses.
See the pattern? put simply most successful businesses have, and follow, a business plan - that is to say they know where they want to go and the route they want to follow to get there.
Lets put it another way, say a friend has bought a holiday cottage in the Lake District and tells you that you can take the family there for a week........
Question - do you
a. Bundle the family into the car and head off to the Lakes on the basis that you are bound to find it sooner or later, or
b. Pack suitcases, cancel the papers, plan the route, fill the fuel tank, work out the rough journey time and make sure the kids have something to occupy them and THEN head off?
Chances are you will have answered as b. not a., this is planning - you work out where you are going, when you want to get there and what you need. It is simply common sense and yet 19 out of 20 businesses don't do it!, no wonder 19 out of 20 businesses fail inside 10 years. No wonder 19 out of 20 businesses are small.
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