A business is a living, changing thing and it has to be able to respond to an unpredictable world. It is, therefore, no use to write a business plan and then to stick to what has been written for a year, three years or five years. Business plans should be as flexible as the businesses for which they have been created and they should therefore be updated whenever it is necessary.
Business plans are usually created as plans for a certain period of the foreseeable future. They need to be rewritten at the end of this period, even if they have not been updated before they reach their natural end. Business plans may also contain objectives that will take different lengths of time to achieve, so some sections of the plan may need to be updated more frequently than others. A one year business plan may contain short-term objectives that will be completed in a month or two, as well as some that are intended to be fulfilled by the end of the year, and some long-term goals that the business will be able to start working towards within the year, but which may not show any results during this period.
Although business plans need to be updated once the actions and objectives laid out in them have been completed, or when the period for which the plan was written has come to an end, it is also important for the plan to be rewritten if there are any changes within the business or in the external environment that affect the plan or its completion. It is never a good idea to stick to a business plan that has become outdated, simply because it was designed to last for a certain period.
A good business plan should have some flexibility built into it, so that is does not have to be rewritten with every tiny change. It is important to consider a range of possibilities when writing a business plan. The frequency at which the plan has to be rewritten will depend in part upon how flexible the original plan is. A flexible plan should describe the ways in which decisions will be made, rather than simply listing what is going to be done. The plan should also contain a risk assessment and contingency plans that will be put into place in response to changes in the market or business. Businesses should expect to deviate from their plans, to a certain extent.
It is important for a business plan to be kept up-to-date. The plan should be rewritten as often as is necessary to ensure that this is the case. Frequently reviewing the business plan also provides businesses with a chance to measure the progress they have made towards their goals by checking how many of the objectives have been completed. Different businesses move at different speeds. They will therefore need business plans of different lengths. The types of goals that have been set and the amount of flexibility that has been built into the plan will also affect how often it needs to be rewritten.
Business plans should be rewritten as often as necessary. It is a good idea to schedule reviews of the business plan, but it is also important to be ready to change the plan whenever it becomes necessary and to be open to inspiration. Even if there is no external event that necessitates a change in the plan, a new idea may open up a new path. Assigning the responsibility for updating different sections of the business plan to different members of staff can make the reviewing and rewriting process more manageable. It is a good idea to review the plan once a month, or at least every quarter. This will be a good interval at which to update the plan, measure the progress that has been made and update the financial information. A more detailed review should be conducted at least once a year.