I am ashmed to say I have not got round to writing a formal business plan for my practice. I have some rough and ready calcuations of growth, costs, current fees etc. Nothing properly thought through. For example for this level of growth I need to do X, Y and Z. Reviewing how I am doing, what I need to change etc
In the language of Gerber I am just doing it, doing it, doing it. At persent balance is tilted towards working in the business rather than on the business.
I would be really interested to know - do you have a business plan for your practice? If so how did you go about drafting it?
Is there really good software specific for accountancy practices that will help with not only drafting a business plan but also reviewing it on a regular basis?
What do you suggest?
Thanks
Replies (7)
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Don't you advise clients on this?
I would count this as a pretty standard part of what I do but perhaps it is because I did a long stint in industry. In my view this was what spreadsheets were invented for and I have not come across another took to touch them on 'what if' analysis. Mind you we did run a £50m t/o business on about 30 linked s/sheets so I guess I'm biased!
Spreadsheets & word
I originally found guidelines for the wordy part of the plan and moulded them to my needs. As for the numbers part I'm also a great believer in the humble spreadsheet for this and have one with different tabs for the cashflow, P&L, purchases, sales etc. It's not flashy and could probably do with a bit of time being spent on it to make that bit quicker but it works for me and for clients (smaller, bog-standard businesses) so I wouldn't rush to spend money on something different.
Why?
Why do you need a business plan so badly? If you think you should be doing something why not just do it?
By all means note down what you need to do but it seems like you are thinking of things to do to avoid doing the work "in the business".
Why say you want to grow by so much and what you have to do to achieve that? Do you have any idea what you have to do to achieve a certain growth?
No real plan but now working more 'on' than 'in'
I don't have a business plan. I have a few excel projections and an idea of my end goal: grow the business and have staff doing the main routine technical work. I went on holiday a month ago and when I returned, it was a great moment: my staff had done work in my absence and I raised invoices when I got back. I'd been on holiday and my business had been making money!
This didn't really need a plan: it's just a case of getting the right staff and delegating work. My next goal is to double my turnover in the next 12-24 months. Ambitious but possible. I need to make sure my time is focused on business-growing activities, leaving technical work to be delegated as mch as possible. I don't need a formal plan for this. Time planning is time not spent doing.
My benchmarks are how much profit I make each month, and what my annual turnover is looking like. Im also aware of whether I have had a decent number of signups in the month or not.
I'm not the kind of person to write a formal plan and then stick to it, so I am just going with the flow. It works for me. If it works for you too, then you probably don't need a formal plan.
@zara
Because my PC is the only one with my (outdated) software on it. And because i check their work before finalising and invoicing. As and when I move my own books onto a cloud system I may well get staff to raise invoices as well, but for now it's my job. And anyway, it's one of the best bits! ;-)