Six years ago, this Philosopher-in-Residence had yet to haul on her brave breeches and dig the foundations of this United Plandom in which Make Me a Plan is sited. In that pre-start-up period, many things entered my head about what may happen if I quit a stable career in management and began to found a company of my own.

Many of the things I thought would happen, didn’t, many of the things I didn’t think would happen, did. Somewhere in the middle of all that, there were some dark days and most daring dreams that also came true.

Here are five of my things which may happen when developing your business, and their commensurate things that may help achieve or mitigate them.

1. Things may cost more than you planned or cashflowed for. Practice being cash-poor in advance – make your own items, re-use, upcycle, buy from charity shops, don’t leave stuff on standby. Don’t be afraid to borrow to meet your business plan – focus on your ability to service debt, not break even or turn a profit overnight.
2. Opportunities may present themselves when you least expect it. Have a big, huge, audacious goal set down to start with, some strong values and a business plan and check back with this triple compass to help decide what to say yes and what to say no to.
3. You may find that some of your favourite marketing campaigns and new product/service development fall into a CINI-void (Customer.Is.Not.Interested). It’s nothing personal. Use data, research and feedback to establish if it was just the wrong timing or the wrong thing entirely.
4. You may gain much of your business, and business reputation, through your own personal brand. Take time to enjoy this, I’m sure it will be well-earned. Also take time to consider contingency strategies, so that the business doesn’t revolve around you.
5. You may think you can do it on your own – but you can’t. You’ll need to get by with a little, sometimes a lot of help, from friends, family, associates, team members. A warm-hearted shout out to Promotional Planner Holly Campbell, who has been a valued member of Plankind since Year 1, and all of the other team members and freelancers who have helped us along the way.

Next fortnight, I’ll be musing On Five, as the second instalment in Make Me A Plan’s 5^th birthday bonanza, Take Five. Why not take five minutes yourself and stop by and browse the blog?

Please get in touch with any particular aspects of this subject you’d like me to write about.

In the meantime,

Happy Planning

PS If you want some other free tips for your business life, check out the Working Well blog – out fortnightly on Wednesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Productivity Expert, Penny Le Kelly. Browse the latest edition here:

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