Challenges and opportunities for small and medium size businesses - SMEs

I have written several articles about the importance of planning – we fail to plan, we plan to fail.

Yet the reality is that many small businesses do not plan – why is that? What are the challenges associated with planning?

There are several issues that are often seen as blockages to planning.

Lack of time, inexperience, lack of confidence and ‘what’s the point’ are four of the more common planning challenges.

Most people who plan set up a system for planning – something that works for them. Obviously, this can take a little time but, once set up, an effective planning system will save you time and, therefore, money! A simple but effective planning system should make life easier and, above all, should help you be proactive when it comes to making decisions. An hour a week spent planning your business will easily be time well spent but it will require some personal discipline to keep it going. Having access to someone as a business mentor or coach can be really useful here.

Inexperience and lack of confidence are a pair of related challenges. Many people see planning as a daunting, complicated task that ‘I am no good at and I won’t enjoy anyway!’ Yet planning is something you all do – you plan to plant crops, you plan to travel, you plan the future of your children, you plan to build a house. Planning your business is no different. If you are fortunate enough to have done a diploma or business qualification you will have certainly learned about business planning. However, the problem with many business plans is that they are over complicated and with no obvious practical end use. The process is often too remote from what the business is all about. Confidence comes with practice! Stop worrying about what others will think! Start with a blank sheet of paper headed ‘my plan’ and begin to write down everything you know about your business or business idea. If you get stuck ask a friend to help! Keep your focus on why you are in business at all. Ideas will soon flow and that is the beginning of your plan!

The fourth planning challenge I want to look at briefly is the “what’s the point” attitude. Every time there is a cyclone or an extreme weather event I am sure many of you ask yourselves that question. ‘Why bother – I just get myself organised and something comes along that I have no control over’. Yes, there are many things that could affect your businesses that appear to be out of your control – however you mustn’t use this as an excuse for not planning. The reality is that the better planned you are before a crisis or emergency, the more likely you are to survive it!

There is one other challenge to consider and that is the challenge of boredom! Some of you want immediate action – planning is often seen as too passive – action is exciting!! However unplanned action can often be short-lived, expensive and damaging in the long term. Excitement is important – action keeps you going!! Your goal must be for planned action – plan it, do it, review it, re-plan and more action. It becomes a productive cycle of actions that work because they have been thought through in advance. The more your planning produces lasting results the more you will do it and the better you will become at it. Another way of removing boredom is to plan with others – create a small team, have planning activities, share ideas, have fun, be social, be outrageous!!

If you plan well your biggest opportunity is to be as proactive as possible for as often as possible. Being proactive means taking charge of your own lives, making your own decisions, creating your own luck. If you take the ‘what’s the point’ attitude you become reactive – you allow other people or other circumstances to set the agenda and often dictate the outcome.

When I ask people why they go into business the answer is usually something like ‘to be my own boss – I’m fed up working for other people – I want to benefit from my own efforts’. Yet if we don’t plan, we might as well work for someone else!

If you put the effort in to start your own business, then go a step further and put the effort in to securing the business outcome you want!

If you need help with planning or you want some feedback on your own plans, then please get in touch. Happy planning in 2023! Please contact me with your own stories and experiences and, above all, over the year ahead have fun and enjoy the journey!

Breadfruit Consulting (www.breadfruitconsulting.com) is a Vanuatu-based business providing advice, training, coaching, and mentoring to businesses throughout the Pacific islands. Breadfruit specialises in a range of business development activities including ‘business continuity planning and action’, helping businesses to survive in a crisis, designing and starting new, sustainable businesses. Contact chris@breadfruitconsulting.comor hazel@breadfruitconsulting.com