I have lost count of the number of business people I have met whose eye’s gloss over when I have asked them about their business plans. Unfortunately, many business owners think that planning is a waste of time, when it’s actually just good common sense.
I came across the following, in a book I have been reading, that illustrates why planning is as important now as its always been.
“No wonder, said an Ancient that chance has so much power over us, since it is by chance that we live. Anyone who has not groomed his life in general towards some definite end cannot possibly arrange his individual actions properly. It is Impossible to put the pieces together if you do not have in your head the idea of the whole. What is the use of providing yourself with paints if you do not know what to paint? No man sketches out a definite plan for his life; we only determine bits of it. The bowman must first know what he is aiming at: then he has to prepare hand, bow, bowstring, arrow and his drill to that end. Our projects go astray because they are not addressed to a target.”*
The author of the above was writing in the late 1500’s and the Ancient he referred to was Seneca the Roman philosopher born in 4 BC.
As the title says “nothing new under the sun.”
E-mk helps businesses, at all stages of growth, to form winning strategic plans. You can find out how we might help you, by visiting www.e-mk.co.uk.
*Michel De Montaigne, The Complete Essays, Translated By M A Screech, Penguin Classics