Ben Franklin famously said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” 

Here’s my top five ways to ensure the plan  you create is successful:

1️. Take the time to work on your business

It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, working *in* the business instead of *on* it. Surround yourself with a trusted and talented team who support you and can manage and operate your business so you can leave the office to focus on strategic, high-level thinking.

2️. Involve all the right stakeholders

Gathering all your stakeholders (ELT, senior leadership, people leaders, board and investors, etc.) together in one place to gain input from those who are actually invested in making your business a success is crucial.

3️. Have top-down and bottom-up plans

The best plans blend a top-down strategy with a bottom-up approach to make it happen.

4️. Remember, it’s about more than the numbers

Your plan is not just a financial forecast; it’s about the health of your business. This is a chance to reflect on what worked well in the past, what didn’t, and why—and what changes you’ll make next year across all aspects of your business.

5️. Don’t forget to have fun with it!

Planning can be stressful and messy and it’s never perfect. But if you lean into it, you’ll see that it’s such a great time to roll up your sleeves with your team to get it done and then come together to blow off steam and celebrate.

One time after finishing our planning (before I exited my company), we took the team to Epcot Center and had a blast giving credit and kudos to one another. It was also the perfect opportunity to reflect on how far we’ve come and look forward to our exciting future.

Cheers to your business planning being even more successful after reading this!