Your Lean Business Plan Might Not Need That Market Analysis
By Tim Berry
I've been focusing lately on the difference between your core business plan and the information and analysis and presentation additions that are really dressing, not plan. Too many people assume that a business plan necessarily includes background and supporting information.... Read More »
Lean Plan and the Business Model Canvas
By Tim Berry
Early this month I tweeted out my recent post on business planning as dashboard and GPS. #smallbiz Owners: planning, not #businessplan Lean Business Plan as Dashboard https://t.co/qECGn2CSTm pic.twitter.com/IGyowg9DnI — Tim Berry (@Timberry) May 3, 2016 Which prompted this response, from Antony Upward: @Timberry agree – any updates on how business modelling fits into this from... Read More »
Business Plan Software Then and Now
By Tim Berry
I was shocked, over the weekend, to discover that it’s been more than 10 years since I posted The Future of Business Planning Software here on this blog. I wrote then: As time goes on, more people are going to use planning as process to manage their businesses better. More will see the power of regular plan... Read More »
Business Owners: The Lean Business Plan as Dashboard and GPS
By Tim Berry
What if you own a business, you’re not a startup, you don’t have to generate a traditional business plan to show to a bank or an investor? Would you still want a business plan? Yes, emphatically, yes you do … … but it’s not a traditional business plan. It’s a lean plan. … and you... Read More »
A Simple Cash Flow Spreadsheet Anybody Can Use
By Tim Berry
If there’s just one formal business skill every business owner should have, it’s understanding and forecasting cash flow. It’s not intuitive because it’s not the same as profits; but it’s vital. We spend cash, not profits. It’s one of the most important pieces of every lean business plan. Here’s my recommendation for a relatively simple... Read More »
Business Plan Market Research and the Fresh Look
By Tim Berry
Back in the 1970s when I was a foreign correspondent living in Mexico City, I dealt frequently with an American diplomat who provided information about Mexico’s increasing oil exports, which were a big story back then. We had lunch about once a month. He became a friend. The Fresh Look Then one day he told... Read More »
The Lean Business Plan for Small Business Owners
By Tim Berry
“What? No, I don’t have a business plan. I’m not a startup.” Too bad so many small business owners think that way. A good lean business plan for small business owners ought to be a great tool for running a business. Set strategy, tactics to match, major milestones, metrics, tasks, responsibilities, and essential business numbers.... Read More »
Planning: It’s About Management and Accountability
By Tim Berry
Every small-business owner suffers the problem of management and accountability. It’s much easier to be friends with the people you work with than to manage them well. Correct management means setting expectations well and then following up on results. Compare results with expectations. People on a team are held accountable only if management actually does the work... Read More »
By 
