The Sunday Mail
Business Forum
THE lesson that has been learnt by sea-farers over centuries is that it is not difficult to push a boat that is floating in water but extremely hard to do the same over dry land. It means plans are likely to succeed where circumstances favour them. So, naturally, business plans need to be actioned for them to be buoyant.
Unfortunately most of our ideas and plans — like a boat — remain marooned on dry land: they never take off. It is undoubted that as a people we craft some of the best ideas, but they never come to pass.
Business plans need to have realistic goals; ambition only will not help. And how a team is supposed to achieve its goals must be clearly laid out. For any plan to be successful, it needs to be effectively implemented.
Preparing blueprints and plans of action that are not implemented is clearly a waste of time. A work plan can help one to stay organised, meet set deadlines and complete all the steps involved in a given project.
It also forces one to plan out every detail. A work plan can be developed for a personal project or a venture that is meant for the team. Ideally, a work plan should last about six to 12 months, though it can easily be adjusted to suit certain deadlines.
Organisation is the key to success in any project. The first step to formulating a work plan is to set clear and deliverable goals, which, ordinarily, should be the ultimate outcome of what one wants to accomplish. The next step should be to set a time-frame within which the project has to be accomplished. These dates should be realistic and be adhered to. Time is money.
Well, the third step is to break down the work plan into small manageable steps. The next step involves arranging tasks in proper order. And after arranging the tasks, one has to work backwards from the time the task is set to be accomplished and set dates for each of these stages.
It is advisable to complete tasks before the deadline for this gives room for the much needed adjustments that might affect the project during implementation.
And it must also be noted that it is important to schedule each task into one’s daily and weekly plans.
This ensures that tasks are completed on time. Most often there is a damaging tendency among locals to always try to mimic what other countries are doing. Also there is a nauseating habit of endlessly discussing issues (consultations) before taking action — that is if any action is taken at all. Such habits have to stop. Projects need to be implemented timeously in order to make them cost effective and efficient. There are only 24 hours in a day and if there are not effectively used, the project runs the risk of falling behind schedule. It is high time that locals aspire to build something that is different and better than its competitors. There is need to build an economy that we all believe in.
Copying a model which worked for a certain country or company can be ill-advised for Zimbabwe. But this can only happen when resources are well managed.
Corruption has however been one of the major impediments to local projects. So, policymakers have to make sure that they institutionalise systems that nip corruption in the bud. In addition, the challenge with most companies is that they tend to spend big before they have fully established themselves.
Considering the current circumstances, Government has to seriously cut back on spending. The country has to find a secret formula for success. We do not need to be fancy at the moment. Running a successful business is surely not a sprint but a marathon. The most important thing to do is to get the boat in the water in order to manoeuvre it. Building a business is neither for the faint-hearted nor for the speed demon. There is need to build systems for the long-haul and to focus on small connected steps. In as much as it takes time to implement a successful business plan, the most important aspect is getting started. Push the boat into the water. Sometimes for business it is not about funding but about getting started. Funding is not the only factor that gets the boat moving, but a good idea is. The minute we decide that we now want trams to replace commuter omnibuses in our towns and cities, it will happen if we put our minds to it. Great businesses were never started with huge sums of money. Rome, as they say, was not built in a day. Indeed it took time to build it, but it happened in stages. Let us not keep the boat on the land. Our economy needs movers and shakers.
Taurai Changwa is an articled accountant with vast experience in tax, accounting, audit and corporate governance issues. He is MD of SAFIC Consultancy and writes in his personal capacity. Feedback: [email protected], Facebook page SAFIC Consultancy and WhatsApp +263772374784.
