It’s better planning that’s efficient and practical. It’s not just a plan, it’s a process. Its benefits include managing, optimizing, and steering a business.

• It’s not a traditional formal plan document. The lean plan includes strategy, key tactics, milestones, tasks, responsibilities, performance metrics, tracking, and regular review and revision. It’s something that benefits every business.
• It’s easy to do because it doesn’t bother with extras. Don’t do the executive summary. For you or you own team, you don’t need it. Don’t describe the market. Don’t describe the team. Just plan it. Know it, yes; but analyze it or prove it, no.
• It’s not voided by change — it exists to manage change better.
• It’s just big enough to run the business. You write a few things down for yourself and your team, then track results, then review and revise. The process is steering your business.

It’s about getting what you want from your business. Forget the big formal business plan document of decades ago. Forget the fact that the plan will be wrong. Keep it simple. Do only what you need. Write it down and keep track of it so you can look back in a few weeks to check what you thought would happen and compare that to what actually happened. Your business plan is wrong, but it’s vital to good business management.

Use the planning process like a GPS for your business — the plan as destination and route, and monthly plan review for constant course corrections.

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Do a lean business plan — keep it lean and simple — then track results and review and revise regularly.

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So Get Going. Start Planning. Start Managing

Change doesn’t void a well-managed planning process. On the contrary, the process manages change.

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Make your business plan just big enough to run your business.

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Experts Say This is a Better Business Plan:

“Forget the old-fashioned business plan. It’s not just for startups, or investors; it’s to run your business better. Faster, easier, more focused, and quicker to change. Tim Berry’s Lean Business Planning is a methodology, not just a plan. It’s about getting the right things done. A must for every business owner and startup.”

Susan Solovic, THE small business expert, NYT best-selling author

“In order to thrive today your business must be nimble. Throw out traditional business planning and embrace Lean Business Planning and set your business free to dominate.”

– John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing and The Referral Engine

“If you’re serious about really running a business, you need this book. It’s about getting what you want from your business, getting the right things done, and adjusting quickly to change. Forget the old-fashioned business plan. This is faster, easier, and better. And you’ll be grateful for using this proven system”

– Melinda Emerson “SmallBizLady.” Bestselling author, Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, 2nd edition

It’s lean, short, just what you need. An easy business plan. It is way easier than a traditional business plan. The core plan is four steps:

1. Set the strategy. Use lean business planning to bring your identity, market focus, and business offering together, for strategic alignment. This is something every business owner does all the time. Just remind yourself.
2. Set the tactics. Plan to execute strategy with  tactics to match. Think of pricing, channels, messaging, features, benefits, and so forth.
3. Do the essential numbers. Calculate basic numbers you need to keep the business running. Sales forecasts, costs, spending. The core numbers that keep your doors open. Plan, track, review, and revise.
4. Set the execution. List concrete specifics you can track. Who does what, when, and what does it cost? How much money does it bring in? Milestones, performance metrics. This is management. 

It’s about getting what you want from your business. Forget the big formal business plan document of decades ago. Forget the fact that the plan will be wrong. Keep it simple. Do only what you need. Write it down and keep track of it so you can look back in a few weeks to check what you thought would happen and compare that to what actually happened. Your business plan is wrong, but it’s vital to good business management.

Use the planning process like a GPS for your business — the plan as destination and route, and monthly plan review for constant course corrections.

Tweet

Do a lean business plan — keep it lean and simple — then track results and review and revise regularly.

Tweet

So Get Going. Start Planning. Start Managing

Optimize your business. Keep the long term in mind while dealing with the everyday routine. Stay the course, but also make course corrections. Lean planning offers real benefits to every business, including:

• Accountability. The future is now. Virtual world. Performance and productivity by metrics, whether it’s hours, codes, calls, or presentations. Set expectations with specific goals, then track numbers. Management by transparency. The lean planning process keeps the metrics on top.
• Managing change. Forget that big daunting document; keep a lean plan to help you track changing assumptions, so you can review and revise regularly.
• Strategic alignment.  A simple process to keep you focusing on the details without losing track of the horizon. Make sure you have tactics to execute strategy; and specific, concrete milestones, metrics, dates, and deadlines to make the tactics real. Plus what you need to plan the money.

Optimize your business. This is planning for today. Lean. Productive.

It’s about getting what you want from your business. Forget the big formal business plan document of decades ago. Forget the fact that the plan will be wrong. Keep it simple. Do only what you need. Write it down and keep track of it so you can look back in a few weeks to check what you thought would happen and compare that to what actually happened. Your business plan is wrong, but it’s vital to good business management.

Use the planning process like a GPS for your business — the plan as destination and route, and monthly plan review for constant course corrections.

Tweet

Do a lean business plan — keep it lean and simple — then track results and review and revise regularly.

Tweet

So Get Going. Start Planning. Start Managing