The E-Myth Mastery Program

Module 8: The Emerging E-Myth Leader

Business Development Process: LD-0120

The Business Plan That Always Works

Page 2

implemented. Case closed. Theres usually no room for change

in the plan. A company sets its best people to work on developing the business plan, and its their job to account for all possible contingencies in the plan. Otherwise, why bother creating
the plan in the first place?
These first two characteristics of traditional business plans are
quite intentional. Thats the way business plans are done.
Thoughtful, analytical, complete, decisive. All the hallmarks of a
supposedly smart business. And, ironically enough, theyre
precisely the reasons that result in the third characteristic of the
traditional business plan, that is, a traditional business plan doesnt work. Its the one that ends up in the drawer, collecting dust,
only to emerge sometime in the future with the whatever happened to or do you remember when we planned remarks.
Traditional, head-centered, static business plans dont work. Can
you see why they dont? A plan that starts in the head, with logic
and reason and thoughts, lacks passion and excitement and purpose. And a plan that starts with the assumption that its been
able to capture and account for all the relevant changes that will
happen in the future is obsolete before the ink is dry on the
page. Any employee in your company could tell you that!
Traditional business plans are not alive and theyre not realistic.
Why would anyone feel a sense of commitment or pride or
accountability around a business plan like that!
The bottom line is that a traditional business plan simply wont
give you the results you want or need it wont work if nobodys
committed to working it.

The E-Myth Mastery Program

Module 8: The Emerging E-Myth Leader
Business Development Process: LD-0120

The Business Plan That Always Works

Getting Started on Your Business Plan

If your business plan were to have exactly the impact you want it to have, what would that look
like? Describe it:

Whats your vision for your business?

What business purpose do you want your business plan to accomplish (if not already stated
above)?

Choose a time horizon for your business plan.

The business plan that always works looks a lot like the traditional business plan. You could put them side by side and not notice
any difference. But their appearance is where the similarity ends.
The business plan that always works does work, and can only
work, because it starts from a completely different place, with a
different set of operating assumptions. It starts from a heart-centered planning approach, which means it starts with the experiencing of the feelings youll have, and your people will have,
and your customers will have, when your plan has been accomplished. When you start by defining the true end result, how
youll feel, then all the logic and analysis and numbers will really
mean something.

What do you need to do to get organized?

How will you involve other people in your company?

The business plan that always works also assumes, and rightly
so, that at the time youre creating the plan you cant possibly
predict all the changes that will occur. So this plan not only tolThis document is confidential and proprietary to E-Myth Worldwide and cannot be used, disclosed or duplicated without
the prior written consent of E-Myth Worldwide. This is an unpublished work protected by federal copyright laws and no
unauthorized copying, adaptation, distribution or display is permitted.

This document is confidential and proprietary to E-Myth Worldwide and cannot be used, disclosed or duplicated without the prior written consent of E-Myth Worldwide. This is an unpublished work protected by federal copyright laws and no unauthorized copying, adaptation, distribution or display is permitted.

The E-Myth Mastery Program

Module 8: The Emerging E-Myth Leader
Business Development Process: LD-0120

The Business Plan That Always Works

The E-Myth Mastery ProgramTM

Module 8: The Emerging E-Myth Leader
Business Development Process: LD-0120

Page 1

The Business Plan That Always Works

Business Plan Contents Checklist
Mark the items on the listing below that you want to include in your business plan and add any other items
that dont appear on the list. (If your contents are significantly different from below, it might be easier for
you to create your own contents listing from scratch.)
I. INTRODUCTORY ELEMENTS
n
n
n
n

Cover and Title Page

Table of Contents
Statement of Purpose of the Business Plan
Company Strategic Objective and Strategic
Purpose (may also include Core Organizational
Values and Beliefs)
n Company Story

V. FINANCIAL PLAN
n
n
n
n
n
n

Financial Goals
Overall Financial Strategy, Pricing Strategy
Description of Key Financial Systems and Reports
History of Recent Financial Performance
Pro-forma Financial Statements
Financial Summary

VI. CLIENT FULFILLMENT PLAN

II. OVERALL COMPANY DEVELOPMENT/GROWTH PLAN

n Goals, including Key Strategic Indicators and major

business indicators

n Assumptions
n Schedule
n Budget and Sources of funds

n
n
n
n
n
n
n

Client Fulfillment Goals

Products/Services Descriptions
Production Strategy
Service Strategy
Delivery Strategy
Customer Service Strategy
Quantification Plan, Reporting Vehicles

III. OVERALL CORPORATE PLAN

n Systems Development Plan

n Organizational Strategy
n Organizational, Leadership, Management, and
Personnel Goals
n Management Strategy and Personnel (Staffing)
Strategy
n Description of Key Management Systems
n Quantification Plan, Reporting Vehicles (how youll
measure and evaluate performance)

IV. MARKETING PLAN

n Marketing Goals
n Overall Description of General Market, Company
Image and Positioning, External Market Forces
(competition, laws and regulations, societal forces)
n Descriptions specific to different market segments:
n Target Market Description (demographics,
trading area, and psychographics)
n Positioning, Sensory Package, External Forces,
Marketing Strategy
n Quantification Plan, Reporting Vehicles

VII. LEAD CONVERSION PLAN

n Lead Conversion Goals

n Description of Lead Conversion/Sales Personnel
n Description of Lead Conversion/Sales Process and
Key Systems

n Quantification Plan, Reporting Vehicles

VIII. LEAD GENERATION PLAN

n
n
n
n

Lead Generation Goals

Description of Lead Generation Channels
Description of Lead Generation Messages
Description of Lead Generation Process and Key
Systems
n Quantification Plan, Reporting Vehicles

IX. OTHER UNIQUE STRATEGIES AND FACTORS

(NOT PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED)

This document is confidential and proprietary to E-Myth Worldwide and cannot be used, disclosed or duplicated without the prior written consent of E-Myth Worldwide. This is an unpublished work protected by federal copyright laws and no unauthorized copying, adaptation, distribution or display is permitted.

Making your vision a reality

It is not much good thinking of a thing unless you think it out.
H.G. Wells, novelist and historian

A business without a vision is directionless. It lacks purpose. It

lacks the essential idea from which commitment, growth, and the
sense of personal achievement arise and flourish.
But a vision without a plan is only a hope. A vision needs a plan
to make it come alive, to make it a reality.
The vision of your business reflects thinking and feeling on a
grand scale. It then requires smaller scale strategies and even
smaller scale tactics to make it happen. Like the tiles of a mosaic that first form individual pictures and then a grand mural, your
business tactics will accomplish your primary strategies, building
to the overall impact and results you want your business to have.
So your vision needs the form, direction, and clarity of a business plan to give it relevance to the day-to-day operation of your
business. Your business plan is the link between the work of
your business and the vision that work is intended to produce.

The Traditional Business Plan versus

The Business Plan That Always Works
A plan is a plan, right? Its a document thats intended to help
you start a new business or make a success of the business
youre already operating. Its a document you can hold in your
hand, read, and show to other people.
But why is it that business plans almost never come to life? Why
do almost all of them, once written, sit on a shelf and gather dust,
while the futures they describe never see the light of day, and the
businesses they describe wobble their way into their uncertain
futures?
A traditional business plan is head-centered; its an exercise in
what business owners think they should do. Writing a traditional
business plan is usually precipitated by one of two thoughts:
either 1) wed better write a business plan because thats what
successful businesses do, or 2) we need to write a business plan
if we want to go out and borrow some money.
A traditional business plan is also static. The expectation behind
its development is that the plan will be decided and then
This document is confidential and proprietary to E-Myth Worldwide and cannot be used, disclosed or duplicated without the prior written consent of E-Myth Worldwide. This is an unpublished work protected by federal copyright laws
and no unauthorized copying, adaptation, distribution or display is permitted.

The E-Myth Mastery Program

Module 8: The Emerging E-Myth Leader
Business Development Process: LD-0120

The Business Plan That Always Works

Business Plan Development Worksheet

ITEM

ACCOUNTABILITY

DUE DATE

This document is confidential and proprietary to E-Myth Worldwide and cannot be used, disclosed or duplicated without the prior written consent of E-Myth Worldwide. This is an unpublished work protected by federal copyright laws and no unauthorized copying, adaptation, distribution or display is permitted.

The E-Myth Mastery Program

Module 8: The Emerging E-Myth Leader
Business Development Process: LD-0120

The Business Plan That Always Works

Building Change into Your Business Plan

One of the most effective, yet most often neglected, ways of building change into your business plan is by
identifying and then monitoring the assumptions that went into it. This worksheet will help you do just that.
Make copies of the worksheet before you begin.

The Business Plan That

Always Works
Making your vision a reality

It is not much good thinking of a thing unless you think it out.

H.G. Wells, novelist and historian

In the columns below, list your planning assumptions, the parts of your business plan that are affected by
each assumption, and the indicators to watch over time that will tell you if your assumptions are correct.
Then select the date when you will review those indicators to see if your assumptions are on track. At the
time of your review, determine whether you need to re-assess those portions of your business plan.

Business Planning
Productive Points
of View

If you do want to change your plan at that time, use the preceding Business Development Plan worksheet to
Overview

identify each item, who will be accountable for revising it, and the due date.

START WITH WHATS

IMPORTANT TO YOU.
n

APPROACH PLANNING AS

Planning
Assumptions

Parts of Business
Plan Affected

Indicators
To Watch

Next Review
Date

Change
Required?

SNAPSHOT
The E-Myth Mastery ProgramTM
Module 8: The Emerging E-Myth Leader
Business Development Process: LD-0120

The business plan is a

common tool used by
many companies. But
why? Too often, preparing a business plan is
done because thats
what businesses do
and, as such, it becomes a rote exercise
that inevitably yields little
or no productive results.
Otherwise known as the
business
plan
that
doesnt work.
What youre about to discover is a completely
new version of the business plan the business
plan that always works.
It always works because
its a plan that starts with
your passion, your vision.
And, rather than denying
the impact of change on
the planning process, it
recognizes that change
will be your constant
companion.
The business plan that
always works begins with
a different set of operating
assumptions than does
the traditional business
plan. Your attitude and
your own relationship to
the plan will be the key
factors that will make it a
success.

MORE OF AN ART THAN A

SCIENCE.

Tips for Getting

Started and
Making Your
Business Plan Work
n
n

Be clear about what

you want to achieve.
Choose an appropriate time horizon.

Get organized.

CREATE A PLANNING

Get others involved.

FRAMEWORK THAT

ACCOMMODATES CHANGE.
n

RECOGNIZE THOSE THINGS

THAT ARE HARD FOR YOU
AND HOW YOU AVOID THEM.
n

TREAT THE PLAN AS A

LIVING, GROWING
DOCUMENT.

n
n
n

Make the process

easy.
Make your plan
robust and flexible.
Build in frames of
reference.
Use common sense.

Benchmarks for
Producing Your
Business Plan
Create a Mental
Picture of Your
Business Plans
Impact
Outline Your
Business Plan
Prepare Your
Business Plan
Binder
Gather Materials
You Already Have

Heres our business

plan. Now lets get
to work!

Identify What You

Need To Produce
Conduct Planning
Meeting
Prepare, Review,
and Revise Materials
Produce Final
Business Plan
Create Change
Mechanism

A Business Development Publication of

E-Myth Worldwide
TM

Putting the Pieces Together

Santa Rosa, California, USA

This document is confidential and proprietary to E-Myth Worldwide and cannot be used, disclosed or duplicated without the prior written consent of E-Myth Worldwide. This is an unpublished work protected by federal copyright laws and no unauthorized copying, adaptation, distribution or display is permitted.

This document is confidential and proprietary to E-Myth Worldwide and cannot be used, disclosed or duplicated without the prior written consent of E-Myth Worldwide. This is an unpublished work protected by federal copyright laws and
nounauthorized copying, adaptation, distribution or display is permitted.