Small-business owners are often told of the value of a sound business plan. Despite this, business plans are generally stashed in the bottom drawer and overlooked.
This is something Gareth Hoole, co-author of Getting it Right, Your Ultimate Guide to Small Business Success, would like to see changed.
And he
says this with the benefit of hindsight.
The director of corporate recovery services at accounting firm Staples Rodway has liquidated hundreds of small businesses and noticed a "common path to failure" in the process.
In the book, Hoole and Wade Glass set out to show business owners basic principles to follow to increase their probability of success.
These include cash management, budgeting and forecasting, performance management, business planning, and capital financial and legal requirements.
Although the basics may seem simple, Hoole said they were too often overshadowed by the Kiwi "do-it-yourself" mentality.
With 95 per cent of New Zealand businesses owner-operated, many owners got "bogged down beavering away" and did not get a chance to step back and plan.
"No matter what the size or nature of your business, there are basic rules that apply.
"You've got to have good business disciplines."
