When a hero in an action movie just raids the perp’s hideout without a plan and lets all hell break loose, it is fun to watch how it will play out. Unfortunately, life is not a Hollywood film, and when it comes to building a brand, we do not want unwanted surprises. We need to plan ahead and I got the reasons why.
Avoid the element of surprise!
By avoiding the element of surprise, I mean bad surprises. In business, we do not want bad surprises. Surprises in business are usually not good. We prefer things to be predictable. Predictable means manageable, and that is good. Although some surprises might be good, remember, do not leave things to luck as luck is a two-sided coin. It may side with you today, but there is no guarantee that lady luck will be on your side tomorrow.
Minimizing cost.
Minimizing cost is one of the ways to gain more profit in business. By planning and preparing ahead, we can minimize the cost of any uncertainty or demands. As a business, minimizing cost will only make more room for improvement or growth. Some businesses are stuck on getting the growth that they want because they are still struggling to find that margin of profit to grow.
Room for error.
Planning gives you the upper hand of being prepared. Being prepared will give you the benefit of embracing error and trouble. When there is room for error, you will likely have time to repair your error. Let’s face it, no one is perfect, but we can be the person with as little error as possible, and that is what perfect looks like in reality.
Be a man of your word.
When you do not plan ahead, you are commonly overlooked at a meeting or miss a deadline. Planning ahead will help you avoid this by being more organized. The effect of being organized, especially in business, is that you will appear as an accountable entity to be counted on. This will indirectly build trust in your customer. Trust is the most expensive thing you could get from your customer.
I would like to add a quote from Sir Benjamin Franklin
“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”
This is probably one of the most famous quotes in history because so many people have actually failed to plan and failed to succeed.
Remember, there is no such thing as a perfect plan. The best plan is the plan that can be executed well without taking in much loss, damage, or error.