Understanding a Career Business Plan

Today's marketplace requires you to see yourself as a high-ticket item that is to be sold. You are both the company that sells, and the product that is to be sold. Knowing your product well is essential. Clear understanding and articulation of what business you are in is basic. The process of organizing your career strategy on a parallel tract with the type of business plan any well-run organization uses will help you to see the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats you will actually face in the marketplace.

A company business plan is a selling document. It guides an organization through a reality check from definition of the product to the direction it wants to go. The plan clarifies what a company has to offer the marketplace. It outlines how it will package, price, promote and distribute its product or services in relation to its competitors. A good business plan describes the organization's goals, and the means to achieve them. As a careerpreneur you will declare and settle these issues before you present yourself to a potential employer.

The place to begin your business plan is at the end. Start by thinking what you want out of the work you are going to be doing. This might sound like a strange starting point. However, if you know where you want to be at the end of your journey, it makes it easier to control the charting of your course. This is not just another exercise in goal setting. It has to do with defining or redefining success .

Traditionally, our culture has defined $ucce$$ with dollars and cents. Is your definition of success framed by wealth alone? Or, is it your knee-jerk reaction without ever taking the time to sort it all out?

Success for you should be a personal and professional decision about how you want to use your skills, according to your values, goals, interests, education, exposures, experiences, natural resources and developmental gaps. These are the pieces of the puzzle of you. Each of these pieces must be thought through, and clearly articulated to understand your unique approach to life and your life's work.

It is probable that you will have many career moves throughout your lifetime. These moves may be within the company you are currently in, or your career moves may be in an entirely different field utilizing completely different skills. If you master the business plan process, you will be able to choose wisely. Consider the words of the ancient Chinese proverb.

Give a man a fish, and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.

Use this time to learn how to fish.

The one certainty of life is that you will be faced with change. You can embrace this change making great strides as you commit your time and energy to the process. Your choice to grow is a personal one, and, it is optional. It requires you to deal with the realities of your world without losing sight of what you really want or need. Acceptance of individual responsibility will assure the choices are yours.

Self-examine and determine the answer to this critical first question. How do you define success? Whether you are at a place of reevaluation in your life, or this is the first occasion to formally verbalize your position, take the time to redefine. Clarifying what is important for you to achieve success will have profound implications. You may find that you are uncomfortable with the demands of attaining or maintaining your definition of success. These are the special considerations you need to factor into your lifestyle equation. Know them!

How To Make This Book Work For You

Review all of the exercises to get an overview of the contents and approach. Work through the exercises to develop your Individual Career Business Plan (ICBP). Even if you know the answers to a segment, formally record your response in order to crystallize your thoughts for the following component. Your job search is a process. One step builds on the next. Many times individuals get stuck in their campaign because they short-change or bypass part of the process.

This book is meant to be written in, marked-up and highlighted. It is a career- planning workbook. When you have completed the project, you will have developed a comprehensive business plan designed uniquely for your career. You will have strategically thought through the details.

Organize all the information you acquire about yourself. Document and monitor each step in your career development process. Create a system that works for you. This is an important component in your program. Even though you may be doing this work for a particular career move, this is not a one-time shot. You are engaged in a life planning process. Commit to utilizing forms, logs, and lists that will enhance your search efforts.

Don't just dream about the possibilities. Actively set pen to paper or fingers to computer and answer the questions that any organization has to face in order to maintain a competitive advantage.

Company Business Plan parallels Individual Career Business Plan

This page demonstrates how the components of a company business plan parallel your individual career business plan. Each part of the business plan relates to a corresponding chapter in your career book. The questions from the company business plan are answered as you work through the chapters in your individual career business plan.

Executive Summary

What is a quick way to review key points about your Business Plan?

a business plan approach

The executive summary is an abbreviated version of your business plan. The Executive Summary of a business plan is not an introduction to the plan, nor is a random collection of points from your business plan. It contains a clear, concise and focused discussion of your organization's product or service, goals and objectives, market analysis, marketing strategy, sales plan, company financials and management challenges.

your parallel career tract

Think of your career executive summary as a two- to three-minute pitch that is a stand-alone, miniature size document that contains interesting information about you. Each word is carefully selected. A busy individual should be able to scan through it in 2-3 minutes able to understand who you are, and what you are about by the end of the read. The executive summary should entice the reader to want to know more about you. This is a time to capture the attention of the reader with hope that you are intriguing enough to invest more time in learning about you and what you have to offer. The summary is tailored to fit your audience. It will be used in either written or verbal interactions during your career campaign.

Some people use the executive summary to organize as a starting point for the rest of the business plan document. You can attempt to do it in advance, or after you have completed your business plan. It is a matter of personal preference. There are advantages pro and con to writing the executive summary before or after you have developed your business plan.

The advantage of writing it before attempting the exercises in the career business plan book is you quickly see the gaps in what you don't know about yourself. You also become aware of what you haven't yet taken time to clearly and concisely articulate around who and what you are all about.

The advantage of writing the executive summary after you have completed the exercises in the Career Business Plan book is you can select those highlights that are most significant enough to be included from all the material you have developed.

No matter when you choose to write it, you will be required to rework and rewrite it. The idea is to massage the rough draft enough times to crystallize your thoughts and words. It's much like the comedienne who develops a new routine, then repeatedly rehearses it until he or she is spontaneous in the delivery of it.

Focus on key points that are the most important issues for your past, present and future success. Prioritize and organize items that are best descriptive of you and your skill sets. Proceed in the same order you would follow in your Career Business Plan.

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