Commit to excellence

In order to have the best chance of success your business needs clear leadership from you and the rest of your management team.

I recommend: Check Point 360 is designed for those who lead, manage or direct other people. Work on hard-to-measure soft skills, setting priorities and individual development.

Encourage teamwork

Your business plan will not work by itself and you can't run it alone.

I recommend: To help keep employees invigorated, consider the exercises mentioned at Team Bonding and The Accel Team Building Program.

Follow a financial plan

Your financial plan is the foundation for the rest of your business plan. It should be carefully tailored to meet your individual business needs.

I recommend: Exl-Plan from Plan Ware is a powerful, easy-to-use template for preparing financial projections for up to seven years ahead.

Ensure accountability

Your business plan should include objectives, goals and action steps. Once a date has been assigned to a specific task or goal, it becomes a target. When targets have been met, let everyone know. When they are not, find out why and what's been done to address the problem.

I recommend: You can track how each manager is executing their part of the plan with a mouse click at Businessandmarketingplan.com.

Make course corrections

You may find that you need to set new goals and make course corrections. Keep track of the original plan and manage changes carefully. An outside consultant could give you a fresh perspective.

I recommend: The Latitude Group specializes in consulting on business-plan execution. Or search for a consultant in your area at Bplans.com.