All business owners and sales reps know they should have a plan, right?
We’ve all heard the saying, “If we fail to plan, then we are planning to fail,” right?
There are three types of business plans, and in my next three articles I will address them.
The first and most common type of plan is really no written plan at all. Most people, despite knowing that they need a plan, don’t have any real written plans. Most folks basically wake up and repeat yesterday. They live their lives in a reactive mode. Reacting to requests from customers and prospects. Reacting to incoming emails. Reacting to whatever else may be creating distractions in their life.
Basically, in this mode, these folks let other people create their plans. If you think about it, when people let distractions from others control their days, they yield control of their lives to others.
Without a written plan, the best most people can hope for is that tomorrow is as good as yesterday. FYI, a to-do list is not a plan. A to-do list is a random list of things that people think they need to do, some of which they wouldn’t do at all if they had a real plan!
Unfortunately, this first type of plan, or better called, “no plan,” is how most people conduct their businesses and their lives. I know. I’ve had the unique privilege of speaking personally, in depth with more than 10,000 distributors and sales representatives in our industry. Easily more than 90 percent of these folks had no real plan. Unbelievable, right?
Hmm, maybe not. My guess is that 90 percent of the people reading this do not have a plan! I mean a written plan for their businesses. A written plan for their lives. A real, written vision for their businesses and lives.
If you currently are one of the 90 percent without written plans, stay tuned. After my next two articles describing the other two types of plans, I will discuss how to create a great plan to build an amazing business and life.
