The document discusses the importance of planning for businesses. It states that while planning takes time, operating a business without a plan is like going to the grocery store without a list and forgetting important items. For a business, unaddressed issues due to lack of planning can range from inconvenience to bankruptcy. The document outlines different types of plans businesses may need, including business plans, organizational plans, strategic plans, and financial, marketing, operations, and human resources plans. It provides principles for effective planning, noting plans should include who, what, when, where, how and why, and work backwards from goals to determine tasks needed to achieve them.

1. Planning is one those things that we all know is good for us, but that no one wants
to take the time to do. While it may seem that planning only takes time away from
running your business, operating a business without a plan is like going to a
grocery store without a list and trying to remember all the items that are needed.
One comes out of the store having forgotten something critical - and having
purchased a number of items that are totally frivolous and may never be used. It is
the same for a business operating without a plan. Critical issues do not get
addressed - and some tasks get done that have no relationship to the direction the
business needs to go. For a business, however, the consequences ofthese
unaddressed issues can range from inconvenience to bankruptcy.
Part of this reluctance is due to how complicated the process is viewed. Yet a
complicated plan is almost as useless as none. The real question is how to make
something simple that fits your business' needs. Can a good grocery list system be
devised that isn't unnecessarily burdensome for all involved? Of course. Let's take
a look as what planning really entails.
The word "plan" originated from then Medieval Latin word planus which meant a
level or flat surface. This evolved in French into being a map or a drawing of any
object made by projection upon a flat surface. In English this has become a more
general sense of a scheme of action, design or method. Planning in its current
usage in business implies a consciousness ofwhat is happening in the business. It
does not preclude creativity or instinct, but it does add a layer of awareness that
spells the difference between survival and extinction in a changing environment.
Planning does involve:
 an understanding of the business' history
 an examination of the business' environment
 an assessment of the business' mission
 goals
 a process forreaching those goals
 a process forgathering information
 a realization that planning is a continuing process that is constantly evolving
Planning does not necessarily mean trying to project the future, but being aware of
a range of likely futures and being prepared for them as occur.
Business Plan
A business plan is used when one is starting a new business or a new process or

2. productwithin a business. It includes not only a description of the new business,
process orproduct, but also a discussionof how one plans on managing the
marketing, development, production, and financing of this new venture.
OrganizationalPlan
Organizational planning, when it does occur, too often is spurred by crisis, focused
on the short term, and not well thought out. To create healthy futures,
organizations must constructprocesses forcreating their futures that are not fueled
by crisis and turmoil. It can be done.
One of the most confusing aspects for those who want to plan is the variety of
terms that are used in conjunction with planning. How do you differentiate
between a business plan, a financial plan, a marketing plan, a human resources
plan, an operations plan, a strategic plan, a long-range plan and just plain general
planning? The simple answer is that each area of your business needs planning so
each area should have its own grocery list of what it wishes to accomplish in the
future.
Strategic Plan
A strategic plan usually refers to the overall direction you wish your business to
take over the longer term. Consequently, a long-range plan and a strategic plan are
often used synonymously. Within that overall strategy a business will have shorter
term financial goals, marketing goals, productiongoals, and human resource goals
that will each need some type of plan if they are to be achieved.
Just because a strategic plan is longer term does not mean it is never changed,
however. One of the most serious mistakes businesses make is not revising their
strategic plan regularly. The environment the business is operating in is changing
constantly. The plan must be revisited at regular intervals to reflect the impact on
the business of these external factors.
There are some universal principles that are true across all types of planning.
Before tackling more specific planning models, it is wise to gain an understanding
of the basic principles of general planning.
Planning Principles
Any plan should include who, what, when, where, how, and why.
 Who is needed to accomplish this task?

3.  What needs to be done?
 When does it start and end?
 Where will it take place?
 How will it happen?
 Why must we do it?
Along with the answers to these questions there needs to be some operational
scheme to organize the tasks needed to achieve the goal.
A helpful approachis to work backward from the goal to decide what must be done
to reach it. The backward approachis a way of looking at the big picture first, and
then planning all tasks, conditions, and details in a logical sequence to make the
big picture happen. From this a to-do list can easily be made. This list will become
a checklist to ensure everything is progressing as planned. Adjustments can be
made based on changing circumstances. The plan (list) should be referenced often
as a set of signposts on the journey towards the goals.