I recently bought and read the book, Start at the End: How Companies Can Grow Bigger and Faster by Reversing their Business Plan, written by Dave Lavinsky. On a scale of 1-10, I’d give it a 7 – pretty good.
The premise is all about crafting a business plan… but doing so by starting at end. So, for example, rather than asking, “We’re a $2 million company now… what level can we grow to next year… and the year after that… and the year after that?,” it pushes us to ask, “What will my company look like in 10 years? Now, how do I get there?”
I love the concept… but for many of us, coming up with a 5 or 10-year vision is not an easy task. We’re not trained or wired to necessarily think like that. Fortunately, the book provides some examples and some tools for helping you to do just that. It also provides some worksheets which can be downloaded from their website.
It also provides some ideas for ‘visioning,’ an outline for creating a strategic plan and a few chapters on some non-business-development aspects of business like HR.
One of my favorite segments – though I wish he had spent more time on it – was on creating/strengthening your USP – Unique Selling Proposition. That is, how your firm’s messaging is different than all of the others that do similar things.
You can get the book for FREE (pay S&H) by going to the website: http://www.startattheendbook.com/free. If you’d rather download it to your Kindle, go to: http://www.amazon.com/Start-End-Companies-Reversing-ebook/dp/B008KPMCP8/ref=sr_1_1.
Overall, I’d recommend this book to help you think about your business a little differently than you do now. If you decide to get the book, let me know what you think.