Chapter 15 Putting Your Plan to Work In This Chapter Using your plan to organize your company Inspiring and leading employees Reviewing and revising your plan | H ii Chapter 15 Putting Your Plan to Work In This Chapter Using your plan to organize your company Inspiring and leading employees Reviewing and revising your plan ongratulations You ve climbed a planning mountain. By now you ve done the brainstorming the research and the analysis you ve come up with a solid business strategy financial model and a detailed plan of action and you ve pulled everything together into a written business plan. Take a minute to accept a well-deserved pat on the back and then roll up your sleeves because you have to start the equally important job of putting your plan to work. Ask successful entrepreneurs how they made it and they ll usually list two reasons. Number one They had rock-solid business plans in place. Number two They stuck to them. This chapter helps you follow their advice. We ve packed it with ideas for putting your business plan to work. It shows how you can use your plan to organize your business and it helps you choose the best organizational structure and the most effective procedures for getting the job done. It offers tips on how to use your plan to get all you can out of your most important resource your people. Finally it offers ideas for reviewing and revising your plan to keep it fresh and vital. H DD 272 Part IV Making the Most of Your Plan Organizing Your Company around Your Business Plan A business plan is like a blueprint. It tells exactly what you re working to achieve but the end result happens only if you hammer it into reality. A blueprint guides every construction step down to a fraction of an inch but a business plan is more of a success framework. It helps you organize your company around your mission and vision your goals and objectives and the strategy you ve outlined to achieve success. Plus it keeps everyone on the same sheet and working toward the same positive outcomes. Form meets function The first step in putting your plan to work is to configure your company to reflect your plan in every part of
