Business Planning- A Real Eye-Opener

I’ve been preoccupied lately putting together a business plan for our new TailorWood product line.  I believe there’s a real need in the marketplace for a quality milled wood designed for decks and screen porches.  We’ve been a pretty small custom deck company in Atlanta (by design) from day one.  I believe this specialty wood offering will put the company in a position to grow.  I’m 46 years old now and have put my body through 22 years of hard physical (albeit very fulfilling) work.  So I’m a little ambivalent about “company growth” at this point.  I think my ideal situation would be to continue to stay pretty small and produce beautiful decks.

When I first started building decks, I never imagined putting together a line of products.  But I can’t ignore what I believe is a good development for everyone.  It’s been about 9 months now since I formally started working on this TailorWood Line.  While exciting, the process has been very time consuming.  The business plan I’m working on will enable us to finance the project.  I must say that putting together the business plan has been an eye-opening project that has allowed me to learn more about our operations than ever before.

Transitioning to the new TailorWood line has given me a clearer picture of the time and costs previously spent using other material.  This includes not on the material cost but the cost and time in picking it up.  I’m glad that we now have a more favorable cost structure (which our clients will also benefit from).

If you haven’t done a business plan recently, I highly suggest it, even if you’re not obtaining funding.  It’s an invaluable process that will provide a fresh perspective of your business…even one that has some age to it.  My next business plan will be on a piece of property I own in Indiana that one day I’d like to start a business on. So much to do!