Charlie's Harmonic Business

Part 1

Sometimes there are days when you wonder whether you should be in business. It seemed like a great idea:

· Meet interesting people 
· Work whatever hours you want 
· Time off

Then the reality sets in:

· Not enough money. (Where does it go?) 
· Difficult customers 
· Up all night doing paperwork

Charlie Burns started this way. He quit his job. He was going to run his own business. From a small workshop, he looked for customers. He had enough money for two months; enough time...? Two months became too many months. He took a night job to feed his family. Little sleep, too many things took his time and nothing completed. He felt a failure to his family.

Charlie's son, Alan was at university, studying business. One night, around 2:30 a.m., Charlie came home from nightshift. Alan was waiting. They sat in silence. Then Alan said, "Dad, if you keep this up, you will kill yourself and what good is that? You had big ideas and talked about your goals. You are now too busy to talk. We hardly see you! That's why I am awake. The only time I can see you is now."

"You have always been my hero, dad, you knew all the answers. But now I want you to listen to me!"

"Things haven't turned out the way you expected. Your goals are even more distant. The unexpected has happened."

"Remember when I was at school? You told me I had to study because things will only get tougher. Did I listen?"

"No!" said his father firmly. "You played games, talked on the phone and watched too much television. When you started failing your exams, you realised you needed to work hard. Remember, I said you needed a study plan, broken down into weeks, for all subjects! You needed to plan to balance school, TV, family and sport!"

Alan smiled. His eyes glistened in the lamplight. "Listen to yourself, dad. Look how you approached your business. You didn't plan! Why not? You need goals clearly defined, including timeframes. You must consider strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. You need strategies to achieve the goals. The plan must cope with the unexpected."

The old man looked at his hands. The lad was right.

"That's enough for now, dad. We both need sleep. Promise me, you stubborn old man, that this Saturday, we will write your plan, the foundation of your business. We won't let it gather dust. We will review progress to keep on track. Trust me dad, it will save your life and it will save my future children's granddad. Promise?"

Charlie looked at Alan and realised how proud he was of this young man. "Yes, mate, I promise!" Charlie pulled out his handkerchief and wiped something from his eye. Alan smiled. "Dad, when we do this, you will see harmony in your business. I will help you with the right methods and techniques. And that's my promise in return!" Charlie wiped his eye again. He slept soundly that night.

This is the first in a series of articles written by Roger Seach on Business Planning. Watch out for the next installment or subscribe at http://bit.ly/a0e0GB

I just love to help people Please see us at http://bit.ly/6ATBdg on Facebook, Our website at http://bit.ly/9ko1er Cheers Roger