Business Planning, Pint-Pot Style!

I spent last Thursday morning updating my business plan- you can see the results in the picture there, at the top.  If that doesn’t look like a ‘typical’ financial strategy document to you- well that would be because the template I have used- ‘The Pipeline Pint-Pot of Probability, Possibility and Potential’- will not be found in any manuals, as I invented it myself.  Let me introduce it to you..

The ‘PPPPPP’ (as I think we will refer to it from now on) is loosely inspired by the notion of the ‘leaky bucket’- an analogy coined by the New Economics Foundation to describe how in socio-economically deprived communities, too much of people’s limited disposable income- whether spent on essentials like food and drink, or comparative ‘luxuries’ such as school holiday activities- is transactionally directed straight out of those communities, into the coffers of corporate or multinational firms, ultimately benefitting only their distant, and already prosperous, shareholders.  By equipping enterprising local people with the skills and confidence to start and grow their own businesses- the NEF argues- more of this precious wealth can be kept circulating within the communities where it is earned; thereby sustaining and growing local economies, as the ‘leaks in their buckets’ have been successfully plugged.

During my years employed in community-serving organisations, the analogy was one I would use in arguing the case for the value of place-based capacity building.  Now my need for it is more close to home- given that as the head of my own start-up enterprise, I need to ensure my own ‘vessel of wealth’ remains full enough to meet the costs of family essentials- and maybe a few ‘luxuries’ as well!  So once every month or so on a quietish morning, I get out my ‘Business Planning Kit’: a sheet of A3 paper; a pad of post-it notes; a pair of scissors; and a largeish blob of Blu-Tack.  And I proceed as follows (presented here as a guide-you may wish to adapt to your own use….)

·    First of all- draw the ‘Pint-Pot’ (nice and big to cover most of the page, you’ll need it)- and divide it from top to bottom into three roughly-equally-sized sections.  From the bottom upwards, these are to contain: customers who I’m already helping; people I’m actively communicating with around providing my services; and contacts who (as yet) I’m more loosely in touch with.  Or to put it more simply (and maintaining the pattern of the ‘P’s): my ‘Positives’; Probable/Possibles’; and ‘Potentials’.

·       Secondly- brainstorm all of the people and organisations who are going to fill your glass- and write the name of each of them down on their own piece of post-it note.  This is also where the scissors come in- as contacts with potential to lead to larger pieces of work are represented by bigger shapes.  There’s no need here to spend too much time pondering what exact size of semi-sticky paper-piece each party should be ‘allocated’ (especially for those newer contacts for whom you may have as yet less certainty as to the amount of work in prospect).  Rather- the idea is just to begin to generate an outline visual picture of the fullness of your pint-pot- for which purpose approximate and ‘best guess’ judgements are absolutely fine. 

·       Thirdly (and this is where, for me, the activity starts to get really interesting, as well as self-instructive)- pick up a post-it note representing a customer who you’re already helping with your services (hopefully there is at least one of these!) and ‘pour’ it into the bottom section of the glass (it will be easier to start here, as these already-engaged customers are most readily identified). You may find here (as I did today) that only a small proportion of your brainstormed ‘Post-it-note-Parties’ are currently providing you with business.  That is fine!  Often (and especially for businesses dedicated to helping people), a small number of loyal customers is sufficient to form the basis for a healthy enterprise- and if we know who these parties are, we can be sure of doing what we need to do to retain them.  This by the way, if the first ‘action’ coming out of the Planning exercise: think about what you need to do to keep these people in the bottom of your glass and not leaking out of any holes in its base!

·       Fourthly- well- I think we have the picture now, do we not?  Basically- continue to fill up your ‘Pint Pot’, moving gradually towards the top, until your last few Post-its are ones representing people you may have talked to just the once a couple of months ago, about some as yet vaguely defined support they may need.  To note here: these people are important to capture!  Having repeated this exercise a half-dozen times since starting up my business- I’ve been surprised how many times a chance conversation which at the time felt relatively inconsequential has led ‘down the line’ to a decent-sized and exciting piece of work!  So this is another very valuable action generated by the exercise- reminding you to recollect all those ‘little’ interactions during the course of your busy days, and work out what quick and easy ‘reconnection’ you can effect, which might move them a little bit further ‘down the glass’.

·       Fifthly (actually probably fourthly, and the one above should be fifthly, but again you are still with me, right?)- as you pick up the post-its which belong  in the ‘middle’ section of your pint-pot, you will identify people who seemed very strong prospects when you were last in contact, but seem for reasons that are presently unclear to have ‘gone off the boil’.  Again- this is massively valuable information!  The beauty of the exercise here is that it will remind you of these ‘nearly-but-not-quite’ customers- and more often than not, the action  most achievable and likely to get them ‘over the line’ will occur to you quite readily (eg:a simple follow up email or call- these people probably still ‘need’ you; they are just occupied with their busy lives, and with a tendency to be slightly forgetful- like us all!)

·       Sixthly and finally (and optionally, although this is an ‘extra’ detail I certainly find useful)- you will likely as you go through the exercise identify people who are of primary value to your particular enterprise as regular ‘referrers in’ of potential customers (sometimes the relationships may work ‘both ways’, ie you also routinely ‘send people their way’).  These mutually trusting relationships are ones that you will want to maintain and develop.  In my latest ‘business plan’ as pictured- these parties are represented by the thinner pieces of post-it, placed just to the  sides of the glass.  There’s a good 10 of them- which I am pleased by, as I judge that by keeping on proactively good terms with this healthy ‘referring network’, I can hopefully continue to keep my The Pipeline Pint-Pot of Probability, Possibility and Potential’ healthily full!

And- that’s it, really!  Or at least- taking the exercise to this conclusion will get you to a point where you have a list of actionable interactions that you are confident will keep your enterprise (it may be a start-up business like mine; or a social enterprise looking to sustain and grow;  or a work project needing healthy stakeholder engagement: etc) good and healthy!  Or-if the picture emerging is not such an overwhelmingly positive one- again, that is instructive to know!  Maybe then your actions are more about reaching out to your trusty referring network- or indeed- about doing something completely and utterly different, that will get you out there to places and into busy but curious consciousnesses where you are not yet known!

With mention of which… in my very next blog , I’ll be letting you all know of a couple of new Autumnal initiatives- both of which are ways of getting my own help out there a little more visibly (one in a beloved community space in a place I’ve spent many happy hours; another online and thereby accessible to all and sundry!).  Do watch out for that news, folks.  In the meantime- perhaps you may like to use my patented ‘PPPPPP’ (or some other interactive imagery which makes sense to you- your quintessential QQQQQQ?)  to plan your own goal-oriented journey within your business, work, or life?  You can do the exercise on your own- or we can sit down together and work through your route to success in the sort of action-directed coaching conversation I love to have!

If that (or something a little like it…) sounds like it may have value to you- just reach out and let me know, it is always good to talk!