Words: Bill Prosch

It’s that time of year again—the time that strikes fear or outright revulsion in the hearts of many business owners. No, I’m not talking about paying taxes, which is unpleasant enough. I’m talking about writing your business plan for 2025. Ugh. This means hour upon hour of tedium, writing what amounts to a guess or taking a stab in the dark trying to predict what’s going to happen, to create something you’ll never look at again until this time next year. Right?

If you’re a business owner and that’s the way you see business planning, then you probably shouldn’t write a plan this year. Just do me a favour: next year, when you’re lamenting your business being no further down the road than it is today, remember that you read this article and decided planning was a waste of time. Maybe then you’ll decide that picking a path for your business to follow just might make sense.

For those business owners who see the value in mapping out the future of your business, let’s go over the main components of a business plan and why they’re so valuable.

Vision

This part of the business plan is often the hardest to get right. The vision is simply a statement of what your business should look like in its ideal state five or ten years from now. It’s what you want the company to become. One reason people struggle with vision is that it forces them to commit to a direction, translating into accountability to make it happen.

In short, the vision is the “what” of the business plan. It’s the destination. Does determining the vision make a difference? Research by Australian business journals, such as Business Review Weekly, supports the benefits of vision-led growth, highlighting that firms guided by a strong vision often see better financial and market-share results compared to those without. If larger corporations see the value, why shouldn’t smaller businesses?

Mission

The mission isn’t something you need to create—it’s already within you. Why are you in this business? Why do you do this instead of something else? There’s a reason. Trust me, it’s there. You just have to find it.

For example, many people in service businesses feel a strong drive to help others. Just as the vision is the “what,” the mission is the “why.” Finding this core purpose can inspire both you and your team.

Core Values

With the “what” defined in your vision and the “why” in your mission, your core values serve as the “Rules that Guide Us.” These are essentially your beliefs.

Our actions are shaped by our beliefs, and changing our beliefs isn’t easy. Define what your core values truly are—not what you’d like them to be or what sounds impressive. Then hire people with similar values. One technique is to ask candidates questions aligned with your values. For instance, if “integrity” is one of your values, you might ask, “What does integrity mean to you?” This approach can help ensure the values of potential team members align with those of the business.

Core values can also serve as a decision-making filter. If a team decision aligns with company values, it’s likely to support business goals even if it isn’t exactly what you would have chosen. This approach can build a team capable of making aligned decisions independently.

Major Business Objectives

So far, we’ve covered the “why” (the mission), the “what” (the vision), and the “Rules We Play By” (the core values) and how they shape your business plan. Now, let’s focus on the “How”—the Major Business Objectives (MBOs). The MBOs break down your vision into manageable, measurable steps.

Here’s where planning becomes action. We prioritise the steps needed to get closer to the vision and break them down into achievable tasks. Each task has an assigned owner, due date, and budget.

Business planning isn’t the arduous task many make it out to be. A carefully created business plan, followed by discipline and regular check-ins, will help you move closer to your vision each year. Or, you could skip all of this and remain exactly where you are.

About the author:

Bill Prosch, CR, is a Business Development Adviser for Violand Management Associates (VMA), a highly-respected consulting company in the restoration and cleaning industries.

Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.