Hello and welcome to a new episode
of the Tizzit TV show.
Today we're talking about business
plan and I want to talk to you guys
about the reasons I believe
you don't actually need a business
plan and I'm also going to tell
you what you might want to do
instead.
Let's go!
Starting
a business and a handmade shop
can be overwhelming,
confusing
and can feel lonely at times.
And so for most of us what we
learned at school
or on the Internet is that a business
plan is going to fix
all of these problems
and that's not necessarily true.
It does sound pretty good on paper,
I'll admit to that.
But in reality
it's not always what you should worry
about when you just started your
shop and you're about to embark on the entrepreneurial
journey. Or even
if you've already started you shouldn't
worry about having a business plan every year
that you follow.
And back in my corporate days
I used to work on a lot
of business plans
and if I have to be really
honest with you most of them
end up in a drawer never to
be seen
or used again.
So there are more
of a corporate thing that
people like to do.
I know back in business school we were taught that
you know this is what matters.
It really isn't: what matters is progress.
And more often than not a
really strong
business plan is not going to get you there.
So you do need
some sort of planning though.
So I'm going to first explain
to you why I think business plans
are not great
for the type of business you want to do
and also give you an alternative.
The first reason I don't like business plans
is because things never really go as planned
and that's perfectly okay,
that's completely normal.
The business plan assumes
that you know how things are going
to go in the future.
So it assumes that you know things you don't
actually know yet
and that no one should expect
you to know yet. You know you just started
how are you meant you know what's going to happen
financially in your business in five
or 10 years. There's also no
room for experimentation
whatsoever. Business plans are
very set in stone,
meaning that when in
reality starting a business
is more about making the best possible
hypothesis (on your product,
prices, your customer,
your audience),
getting out there
and testing it out
and then re-assessing
and changing direction as needed.
Business plan trying to do the opposite
of that and trying to say this is how
it is and this is what we're going
to do. So there is no room for
changes
and experimentation
really. So it's
all about trial and error in business
and we have to embrace that
rather than trying to control what
is going to happen.
You are also one person
shop. I assume that you're a solopreneur
or maybe you have a virtual assistant
and maybe someone is helping you pack your
orders or create your products.
Maybe you have one person doing social media
but at max I'm assuming
most of you guys watching my videos
have one person working for you
if not zero meaning you're the only
one.
And business plans
are more used for
more formal, corporate settings
because it makes sense
there to use them in
those environments.
They include things like,
you know, the 3 year loss of
profit planning,
key personnel that you plan on hiring
in and all sorts of things that are
more made for
appealing investors
and creating consensus
amongst the directors
and people in charge of making
decisions. That just doesn't
sound like something that you need,
right? And it's not that
it makes no sense at all
as a solopreneur to
have this type of document.
Again you need something that's much
more flexible than that.
So where does that
leave us? Well,
basically I feel
like I've just said business plans
are a waste of time.
And although,
you know,
they can be a bit of a waste of
time,there is something to be said for
planning in your business.
So the first thing I want to tell you is that
if you want a plan for your business I
really really recommend
the right brain business
plan - it's a book by Jennifer
Lee and I'll put the link below.
She's done an amazing work
at turning what used to be this old,
boring business plan for corporate
people to something that's
really more doable
and actually enjoyable to do
and to write.
When we use the right brain
or the right part of the brain
a bit more. So for creatives,
makers and people just like you.
So it's a great resource
and I'll link to it below the video.
Now, the second thing I want to share
with you is that if a business plan
doesn't work for you what you want to do instead
is a work flow
and a rhythm that's going
to allow you to focus on what's important.
Something that makes sense
for where you're at in business first thing
because your goals are
going to change as your business
and your shop grows,
something that's actionable
and something that you can review
and adjust,
so something that's flexible,
and finally something that's not going to let you quit,
so something that really keeps you
comfortable and on track as well.
So the first tip is
using what I call the three times
four makes twelve
rule
and that's quite simple.
It is just that I think
planning a year ahead for your business
is much too far ahead in
distance and instead you
should reassess your business goals
every three months
and have a quarterly routine
where every three months you sit down
and you review what progress
did I make, what do I need to focus on
in the next three months to work towards
my goals.
That's much more efficient.
It lets you be more flexible.
It lets you adjust when something comes
up. If something works
during the first three months you can keep on doing
it if something was a bit of a fail
then you just let it go
so you can be more reactive in
your business.
My second tip is to
focus on what matters now.
Not what's going to matter
in a year from now
and two three years from now.
Most of us look up on
Google and blogs
and forums.
We know marketing strategies
and all this type of stuff
and although it's beautiful
and it's amazing that we get access to all this
information it gets really
overwhelming
and we get
trapped into doing things that we really
don't need to do right now
and what I mean by that is that
the activities that you need to focus
on to grow your handmade shop
and turn it into a profitable business
are not the same if you
just open your shop
or if you have
two years experience if you're getting
sells regularly,
if you have followers
or not.
There's a lot of different factors
that comes into deciding
what your focus should be on.
So if you want to make progress in your business
you need to be aware of what the
stages of business are
so that you can focus on those activities
and completely block out the rest
because that's just noise
and that's not going to help you right now.
And for that I created a
product called the maker's roadmap.
I'll put the link below
the video so you can go
and check it out. It's at www.tizzit.co/roadmap and
it can
really help you understand what stage
of business you're in,
what you need to focus on.
It's an entire system
made of printed planner
and coaching videos
so you've got all the
aspects of you know writning into a proper
printed physical planner
but also the flexibility
of coaching videos online
and a virtual member area
with more materials
to really guide you through
growing your handmade shop from
scratch really to
a making a full-on
living off it. So if
you feel a bit confused you don't want
to organise yourself you need help
in setting your goals
and you want me to hold your hand this
is a perfect product for you.
It's undated meaning that if you're
watching this video in
December or January that's great
but you can also start in
the middle of May
and just start fresh from there.
So go and check it out.
It's a printed planner
and a framework to help you grow
and it's called the maker's roadmap,
and I'll put the link below the
video. Thank you so much
for watching it.
If you want more free,
absolutely free resources,
you can go
and visit www.tizzit.co/free
It's a free resource library
just there just for handmade shop owners,
Etsy sellers and makers just like you,
trying to grow their business.
And we also have a free Facebook group where
you are more than welcome to come ask
me and the other members of the community
any question you might have
so that we can help you
make,
you know, turn your shop into a
profitable business.
Thank you again for watching.
And if you like this video
give it a thumbs up.
Share with your friend
and give me a follow.
It helps me reach more people like
you and help them grow their shops
as well.
Thank you very much
and I'll speak to you soon.
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