Writing your business plan and top 10 projects

Students on our anatomy, physiology and pathology courses often go on to take our Therapists Business E-Course.

Over the next few weeks, we will be providing the following Guiding Principles to help you set up your own successful business:

• Guiding Principle 1 – Writing your business plan and top 10 projects
• Guiding Principle 2 – Vision for your business, planning journey for success
• Guiding Principle 3 – Considering short, medium and long term goals and sources of funding
• Guiding Principle 4 – Finances
• Guiding Principle 5 – Finances/accounting
• Guiding Principle 6 – Finishing the business plan
• Guiding Principle 6a – Finances
• Guiding Principle 7 - Turning the plan into deliverables
• Guiding Principle 8 – Legalities

Guiding Principle One 

Writing your business plan and top 10 projects

After 20 years of successfully running a business I should know a bit about business planning…. 

What I do know is that it isn’t an exact science, it gets easier the longer you have been in business, a crystal ball would be incredibly useful at the beginning (!) (how on earth do you predict and forecast your sales when you are just starting??!!) And you need to be able to find a balance between:  

1. Defining the business and planning it -after all the Sistine chapel was designed before it was started  
2. Being prepared to accept and step into the unknown- after all the Wright brothers didn’t know how they were going to invent flying!  

Confused??!!  

I did say it wasn’t an exact science. In fact we can draw comfort from this. There is no right or wrong way to plan your business, it is fine to do it your way. The important thing is to do it. 

Let’s go back to the flying analogy. If you were learning to fly a plane- you wouldn’t be an instant success!!! Oh no, it would take many training and practice hours with your flying instructor to get you off the ground and even once you had earned your “wings” you would still need to keep your flying hours up to be able to keep your pilots license.  

And so it is with planning and running a successful business. A continuous learning curve that gets more fascinating, exciting and satisfying the more you learn and put into action.  

The plane gets bigger, the altitude higher, distance and speed increase.  

I who used to change job every 2 or 3 years can safely say I have never been bored, unhappy or restless in my 20 years of running Gill Tree Training. Instead I have become a successful business woman who has been able to integrate a huge vision and basic business principles, whilst working energetically and spiritually.  

I am here to help you do the same. 

Whilst some will view a business plan as boring! (and it can be if you look at some of the very dry ones that banks will give you to fill out) it can be  a creative and dynamic process. 

A business plan gives you the opportunity to develop a sense of purpose and direction. A business plan for most people when they finally get round to doing it is done quickly to get it out of the way and then filed away to collect dust. It has very little to do with reality and has no steps to get you from where you are now to the supposed end of the plan where you collect the gold at the end of the rainbow.  

A far better plan is something that is totally imperfect, flexible and achievable that helps you: 

Analyse your current position 

Realise how much money you’ll need to get started 

Establish priorities 

Creates unity of purpose if there is more than 1 person in the business 

Makes the case for a loan if required  

This business plan guide is like no other! It will work with you on a practical, energetic and spiritual level. Imagine it being like going on a journey, an expedition and an adventure! You’ve already got your Therapists Business Passport, so all your need are: 

A map: to avoid running your business by wandering around aimlessly 

Compass: to give your business direction 

Walking boots: to keep you grounded 

Mirror: to reflect (on successes and failures) 

Torch: to shine a light on what works and what doesn’t 

Trowel: to dig deep 

Tape measure: to go the extra mile 

Candles: to shine the way for others 

Matches: to go back to basics 

A companion and mentor: to act as a sounding board 

View all messages