Top 10 Reasons Business Plans Fail
- The urgent trumps the planned
Focused on urgent, day-to-day matters, many businesses fail to plan new strategic initiatives, much less implement or sustain them. After finishing business planning, management frequently refocuses on daily operations, allowing business plan execution to languish. - The internal team resists change
Change is hard and our natural tendency is to resist it. And the greater the change, the greater the risk of failure. Many businesses fail to recognize and address these risks, making new initiatives or strategic changes unsustainable. - Capacity constraints limit progress
Organizations have finite financial and human resources, and it takes resources to accomplish strategic initiatives. Many business plans fail to account realistically for these constraints. - The business plan is executed ad hoc
Many business plans are managed ad hoc rather than through a process-driven management style. Without the right people, processes and technology in place, a great plan can only take a business so far. - The elements are insufficiently defined or actionable
Even with a visionary plan, progress stalls if the plan is not broken into clearly defined, executable elements with assigned, accountable owners. - The execution program lacks effective oversight
The most brilliant plan cannot compensate for lacking qualified people with enough time to take action. Successful business plan execution requires individuals responsible for program management who have the capacity and management skills needed. - The team is unaligned on plan execution
Ad hoc efforts by multiple people rarely facilitate effective execution. Without a common management framework, plan execution can produce disappointing results. - Executives have not bought into the business plan
Past initiatives that failed to produce tangible results can mean new initiatives have less credibility. For this reason, executives who have seen many initiatives go unrealized may be the greatest skeptics about implementing strategic change. - The execution plan lacks executive accountability
Business plan executions fail without executives accountable for meeting plan objectives. Furthermore, Business plan execution is not a last-minute proposition, so success requires regular milestones for measuring achievement. - Compensation is not tied to results
People focus on the way they are compensated—it is human nature. Yet most businesses do not link compensation with progress on the strategic plan. Linking compensation to business plan execution keeps people focused on what will drive business plan success.
