Podcast 140: What’s Your Profit Plan For 2020? with Dave Sullivan

Contractors ask me all the time if I were to start another roofing business what would be the #1 thing I would do. I always tell them the same thing. I would start with a written business plan. Without a written plan you can’t have the clarity of where you want to take your business and how you’re going to get there.

That’s why I wrote the 1 Page Business Plan. You can download it for free from my website and fill in the PDF. This will give you a professional business plan in just a couple of hours that you can review with your team to be sure everyone is headed in the same direction—a better business and bigger profits!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

What is your plan for your business for 2020?

Two things made a difference for me when I was driving my business into the ground: hiring a consultant and developing a business plan
A business plan will get you organized, get everyone on board, and foster confidence in your leadership

Common misconceptions that contractors have about a business plan
Why do you need a business plan?
My 8-step template to give you an overview of the future of your business:
- The End: What is your destination? How to plan ahead for when you will exit the business
- The Customer: You can’t be everything to everybody. Determine the what, who, where, and why of the customer
- The Focus: Have an elevator pitch that covers three questions: What problems do you solve? How do you solve them better than your competition? What action do you want the customer to take?
- The SWOT: What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats?
- The Operation: You have to sell work, do work, and keep score (the three-legged stool) “Not getting invoices out means not getting the cash in.”
- The Process: See where the problems are in your business. Have systems and processes in place, and get good people in and train them to do a great job.
- The Action: What is the ONE thing that will make the most difference in your business?
- The View: What is your business going to look like at “the end”?
“Everybody’s got a plan until you get punched in the face.” —Mike Tyson
A business plan will give you a more profitable business, more satisfied employees, and more free time!
Be ready to adapt, make changes, and have a plan!