When starting your business, creating a thorough business plan can be considered as toying with the building blocks of your company. You are setting up a blueprint – not of how your business will look like, but of how it will behave. And just like you need a good foundation to build a house, so will a good business plan help lift your new company onto its very own feet.
However, the process of sitting down and creating a one-page business plan can be a messy one. There is a lot to think about and go through here! From what type of business model you will use to your vision and goals – there are a lot of pieces that you need to put together.
Because of this, starting a business – and drawing your first plan – can become a stressful thing. People often aren’t sure about what should go into your plan or how to shape it properly.
This is why, in this article, we take a look at four amazing ways through which you will make business planning fun! Hopefully, these will help you turn your frown upside down and get your business running in no time!
1. Find an intuitive business planning software
This might seem like an easy fix to some people – but there are a lot of benefits that you can reap from a reliable business planning tool.
First, if you are an inexperienced entrepreneur, then a good business process modeling software will give you all the clues and information you need for creating your startup. With tools like IdeaBuddy – which offer a questionnaire-like process – you will not even feel a speck of stress. What’s more, you will even find the whole process fun and creative, and it can prompt you to come up with new ideas for your business.
And if you have been in the game for a while, then these tools will come in handy with tuning those finer touches in your business plan. For many, finance forecasts can be a nightmare. But with business planning tools, you can get a full report of your budget predictions with a couple of short clicks.
The same can be said about market research. Nowadays, you do not need to venture out and create surveys. There are huge databases that are often updated – and all within a simple business planning tool! This is why a tool like this is a resource you should look into when planning your business.
2. Plan how you will plan your business
Planning a business plan might make you anxious. But planning to plan your business will for sure cause nightmares – at least when you think about the idea at first. After all, you are here because you are searching for a way to make business planning fun – not to make it more difficult, right?
But if you set aside just thirty minutes to allocate a schedule to your business planning, then the whole process will go much faster later.
One of the biggest detractors to successfully planning your business is not managing your time well. So, once you add organizing into the process, everything will run much smoother. What’s more, it will relax you to know that an endpoint is in sight – and this can make business planning much better and much more fun!
So, set up a schedule before you sit down to plan your company. Allocate a certain amount of time to brainstorming , to mission work, strategizing, marketing, distribution – everything! This way, you will set a foundation for your business plan, and you will end up with a well-rounded document in the end.
3. Get out of your office to get a fresh perspective
Another thing that can drive you crazy while planning your business is being cooped up in the office. There are a lot of distractions that can help in this space – whether it is clients walking in or shareholders asking to hear from you. This is why taking a break and planning a meeting outside of the office can sometimes be beneficial to making business planning fun.
The biggest advantage is that you will be fat from any distractions that can happen daily – if you pick your spot carefully. Try to find a meeting space that has room for all your needs – whether this is technology or a meeting table. Adding good food and a professional atmosphere cannot hurt either.
Food might be a weird choice, but it can make business planning fun too – on a physiological level. If you spend all your time working, then your blood sugar levels can drop – and your ideas with them.
The right food will do just the opposite. However, watch out not to serve heavy lunches or snacks. These get people sleepy! Instead, fresh fruit or light lunches are perfect – along with caffeine.
But that’s not all! New environments can also help you come up with new ideas. This is why a lot of companies usually hold their strategic planning meetings in hotels or resorts that are made just for these meetings. However, plan for something like this ahead – the end of the year is quite popular for summits like this, so a lot of places will be booked!
4. Create a social outing out of your business planning
Another thing that can make your business planning fun is talking about it online. In the age of technology, social media presence can help you push your brand into the peripheral visions of future clients .
Strategic planning thus offers an amazing opportunity to share your brand and your goals with your followers. The best way for this is to take a lot of pictures – group selfies seem to be most popular, say the experts.
So, have a person snapping photos during your breaks when you are talking, team building, and having fun. This will make the whole process a lot more fun – while you puzzle on what the best backdrops are, for example – but will also help you set a foothold into the social media circles with ease.
It is also not unheard of people playing games during the breaks as well! From board games to small icebreakers and energizers, the internet is full of things you can do during these meetings and strategic planning! It would be a smart idea to set one person as a facilitator – as well as find a place that can aid you with chairs, whiteboards, and similar equipment.
Conclusion
In conclusion, business planning is essential – but does not need to be as drab as people think! You can always add fun activities and change up the way you approach it – either through where you are working on it or the tools you are using. These will all make business planning fun and help you establish a strong company.
About the author: Petar Djordjevic is a content writer at Bounty Hunter Digital Agency. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and is finishing his master’s degree in General Math. When he isn’t glued to his keyboard writing, he spends time reading epic fantasy and watching sitcoms, as well as learning more about content optimization and online writing.
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