2 Types of Planning You NEED to Have
Contingency planning is a course of action that's designed to help you respond effectively to significant future events or situations that may or may not happen. A great way to look at it is as if it’s Plan B, for how to respond to a planned or unplanned circumstance.
This can be looked at at the project level with any type of project you're trying to perform.
You have your desired outcome, but what are alternative circumstances that could come to pass? And can you proactively plan for that? Contingency planning is risk management, fundamentally, and so it's looking at risk assessment, and then identifying what would potentially trigger that risk.
Then, looking at how you could potentially respond either through a prevention plan or a mitigation or contingency plan that would minimize the impact of that risk if it were to occur.
Small businesses can look at this across their entire operation, because they’re small enough for that. This really helps them address, identify any blind spots that they might be missing.
Succession Planning, it's identifying strategies for delegation of responsibilities and roles within the business. It's also a way for the owner to communicate the intentions for the future of the business if the role were to change, or they were to depart the business completely.
This is what happens to the business if something happens to me. Maybe you want to hand the reins over to someone else if I'm not interested in running it anymore. Or maybe you're reaching retirement and you want to hand it off to family members, or you want to reduce the scope of your responsibilities. And so you're starting to look at delegation strategies in that way. Maybe you want to sell your business, or buy another business. And both of those cases, there's huge due diligence processes. And it's, your role will change in that transition.
These are things where you're going to have to gather all the information together, and somehow can, you know, do some knowledge sharing, thinking about planning, planning for yourself, or a team member to take a vacation. So these are things it's not just about you. It's also thinking about your team and key team members.
It’s never too late to start building a contingency or succession plan. Schedule a call with me so we can implement these strategies sooner rather than later.
Who is Kiva?
Kiva Slade, founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative, and your trusted strategic and analytical guide as you grow your business.
She is passionate about her work because she has seen countless brilliant entrepreneurs who are determined to create a business that supports the life they want for themselves and their families.
Early on, she noticed that these powerhouses were ready to hustle and put themselves out there. But one essential component was missing in most instances — the data necessary to bring laser focus into any business strategy for it to flourish.
To achieve the impact they’re striving for, they need to understand their business from the inside out. Everything they need to take their business to the next level is right in front of them — if only they know where to look.
So her team set out to bring the power of business intelligence to help small business entrepreneurs like you uncover all the available data to enable your business to grow with confidence and ease. Because Chief Data Officers aren’t a luxury reserved for Fortune 500s — they’re an essential piece of the puzzle to help you grow better.
Through her business, she sees folks from all walks of life set and conquer objectives they once thought unachievable in their business by diving deep behind the scenes to discover trends, possibilities, and avenues for growth.