Planning, research and potential funders on the road to success
By Dr Vijay Bahadur
It has been my
experience that a lack of planning and research and failing to be prepared will
cost you.
Setting and achieving goals starts with having a plan. You have to
define your long term goals, what you ultimately want to achieve, as well as
your short term goals that detail the steps to be taken on the way to achieving
your long term goals. Planning and goal setting will be your guide on the path
to success.
Losing sight of
your ultimate objective is a risk when one falls into the trap of reactively
responding to incoming emails and telephone calls. Avoid reactive behaviour by
planning and working towards a set of objectives that will help you reach your
ultimate goal.
With a firm goal in mind, achieving success
will also require that you:
Ø Remain focused on your target every day,
Ø Follow-up every day,
Ø Supply all required documentation,
Ø Be patient,
Ø Don’t quit
when the going gets tough, and
Ø Have faith in the result.
Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is a tool no entrepreneur can
survive without. Remember that without a plan, you are planning to fail. Review
your plans regularly to guarantee your best chance of success.
A strong plan should: -
·
Explain the business to others in order to inform, motivate and
involve,
·
Serve as a framework for decisions or for securing support/approval,
·
Assist benchmarking and performance monitoring,
·
Provide a basis for more detailed planning, and
·
Stimulate change and become a building block for the next action step.
Use your strategic planning to: -
q Help you or your organization achieve
better results,
q Focus your energy,
q Ensure that you are working
towards your goals, and
q Assess and adjust your direction
in response to a changing environment.
Equally
important but often neglected is having a backup
plan. If you don’t have one already, take time to devise one and do it now!
It may well mean the difference between success and failure.
Often,
asking the right question is the key to succeeding, for example: “How do I get funding?”
Research
I always tell entrepreneurs that being prepared is not good enough, aim
for over prepared; it is
your ultimate weapon. Follow the example of arguably one of the world’s most successful
and wealthiest investors, Warren Buffet, who spends the majority of his time
researching his investments. Thorough research is your safeguard against an
imprudent investment.
Just recently I
reaped the benefits of this strategy when I was invited to work with Working
on Fire, a South African government-funded, multi-partner organization,
supported by The Department of Water and Environmental Affairs. Working on Fire
recruits young men and women from marginalized communities and trains them to
become skilled wildland firefighters.
How did I get
this opportunity? It required planning, research, continuously pushing towards
my objective and positioning myself in the right place at the right time.
Potential Funders
Procuring funding for a business initiative may well be the most challenging
journey you will ever embark on. Gift yourself with the best chance of success
by being over prepared and be equipped and ready to give a presentation
anytime, anywhere and be ready to answer all manner of questions.
Recently I was called in to answer a few questions regarding a business
plan. In preparation I compiled a list of 100 possible questions with answers,
but in the end I was asked only five. However, being over prepared, gave me
confidence to answer the questions with conviction.
Ultimately
a business plan should represent you and speak for you when you are not present
to answer questions about your business model. If your business
model makes sense there is always a way to get funding, however, if your potential
funder knows more about the business than you, then you don’t deserve the funding. If someone else
authors your business plan, be sure that you know what it contains and what it
means.
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