Why is it that when a business changes hands, there is a limbo period where new business management fumbles along, and then eventually picks up the reins of an inherited business plan? This failed notion serves no one at all, and typically your customers and clients will feel this inauthenticity the most.
New business management should be looking to bring a fresh business plan to the table that recognizes the needs of their target audience, while also planning for growth. If you’re guilty of working with a business plan that is not your own, let’s review why you cannot inherit a business plan from old management and expect to be a success.
Firstly, Understand Why you Actually Need a Business Plan
Now, none of this is to say that you should be writing a business plan just for the sake of it, especially when the old management did such a fantastic job. The need for you to create and own your new business plan is so that you understand what your business is and how it is servicing a need for your anticipated customer.
Without those foundations, you will not succeed, so ensure that you are taking the time to acknowledge why you actually need this business plan in place. This isn’t a prop, but an instrument you should be turning to for direction and inspiration for the foreseeable future.
You Might have Different Values from the Old Management
Perhaps you are hoping to run your business to be a sustainable and ethical operation, whereas the previous management was passionate about running a business that was family-run. Both of these company values are admirable, but chances are they won’t be shared to the same honor respectively.
You cannot inherit a business plan from old management as you are not striving to the same values, and so you need to forge a path that will serve your meaning and purpose. Another thing to note is that the values of the old management might really resonate with the loyal customer base, so tread carefully before stripping anything that might be accountable to the success of the business to date.
New Channels Exist
It’s a sad fact that business plans are sometimes written once, and then find their way into a bottom drawer to be rarely drawn upon. If this is the case with your old management, you will absolutely need to inject a fresh take that will incorporate new channels that might not have existed when the old management put pen to paper.
Sure, social media will not carry a business to the finish line, but it is a very powerful digital tool that many businesses have seen great success in engaging. Updated photography and video marketing are other examples of channels that should be included in your new business plan.
Your financials will not be the same
Financial success looks different for all businesses, and so you shouldn’t pin your targets on someone else’s idea of a profitable year. Additionally, the previous business management might have had investors or a bigger revenue stream to put into the business, and so your circumstances might vary considerably. Establishing your own business plan for your new reign will illuminate what you need to make, and how you are going to get there – a plan that is specific to you only.
Hopefully, this has clarified just how important it is to write a new business plan that is entirely unique from your predecessor. You also shouldn’t view this as something you must do, but something you want to do. What can be more exciting than researching and designing a business plan that will afford your future success?