Wertz & Co Warns Startups to Write Business Plans
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) July 23, 2013 -- Becoming an entrepreneur is a learning experience, often filled with missteps and mistakes. Interestingly, as reported by Ilya Polin in Inc, entrepreneurs tend to make the same mistakes, regardless of the industry or type of business. These range from hiring the wrong people to making decisions on gut feelings rather than fact.
Wertz & Co., an Orange County accounting firm that works with entrepreneurial business owners in a wide variety of industries, would like to add one serious mistake not on Polin’s list – the lack of a written business plan.
“I hear a lot of excuses from business owners for not having a written strategic plan,” says Russ Wurtz, CEO of Wertz & Co. “The most common of these is, ‘I don’t have time to write a strategic plan!’ While I understand the demands of starting and running a business, lack of time is not an excuse. What gets written down gets done, and not having a written plan dramatically reduces your chances of succeeding at the level you want or expect.”
For business owners struggling with writing a plan, Wertz recommends two basic steps:
1. Identify three things that will have the biggest bottom-line impact on the business. Determining these three things requires drafting a plan. It doesn’t need to be a lengthy or formal document, and it doesn’t have to follow a specific format. The key is for the owner to take the time to write the plan and then act upon it.
2. Once the owner identifies the three most important bottom-line issues, they should delegate everything else to their second-in-command. This will challenge and empower the individual while increasing their value to the business. More important, it will allow the owner to focus on the primary drivers of the company’s success.
“Ask any business advisor or read any management book and they will affirm that planning leads to success,” adds Wertz. “As leader of your company, if you don’t perform this essential task, no one else will. It’s up to you to choose the future over the past; to focus on opportunities rather than problems; to choose your own direction and aim high – and that’s starts having a written plan. When I look at our most successful clients, all of them have some type of written plan.”
About Wertz & Company
Wertz & Company is an Orange County accounting firm that specializes in working with entrepreneurs and business owners along their journey to success. The firm offers accounting, financial planning, estate and wealth management planning, tax preparation, and other management consulting services in a personal, proactive, responsive manner. With a strong commitment to the local community, Wertz & Company contributes to several different charitable endeavors. For more information, visit http://www.wertzco.com.
Russ Wertz, Wertz & Co, Orange County Accounting, http://www.wertzco.com/, (949) 756-5000, [email protected]
Share this article