Planning
| English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|
| business objective/ˈbɪznəs ɒbˈdʒektɪv/ | 商业目标 | shāng yè mù biāo |
| strategy/ˈstrætədʒi/ | 战略 | zhàn lüè |
| action plan/ˈækʃn plæn/ | 行动计划 | xíng dòng jì huà |
| cash-flow forecast/kæʃ fləʊ ˈfɔːkæst/ | 现金流预测 | xiàn jīn liú yù cè |
A plan makes a choice visible
- A business objective 商业目标 is a result a firm intends to achieve, such as survival, profit, growth, or better customer service.
- A useful objective is specific enough to guide a decision and measurable enough to review later.
- “Become better” is a wish. “Reduce customer waiting time from ten to six minutes by June” is a plan.
“Become better” is hard to put on a chart without a very optimistic pen.
Which is a measurable objective?
It has a measure and a deadline, so the firm can review it.
From target to action
- A strategy 战略 is the broad route to an objective; an action plan 行动计划 says who will do what, by when, and with which resources.
- A plan needs milestones. A missed milestone is information: change the action, resources, or deadline before the final target fails.
- Planning reduces uncertainty; it does not remove it. Customer demand and competitors can still change.
Match each planning level to its meaning.
A plan becomes usable when the broad direction turns into owned actions.
Check whether the plan works
- A cash-flow forecast 现金流预测 estimates money entering and leaving over time. It warns a business when it may not have enough cash to pay bills.
- Profit and cash are different. A firm can make a sale today but receive the customer's payment next month.
- Review means comparing the actual result with the target, explaining the difference, and deciding the next action.
A profitable sale always means the firm has cash today.
Payment can arrive later, so profit and cash are not the same.
A café wants more morning customers. Its objective is to sell 30 breakfasts each weekday by the end of May. Its strategy is a faster takeaway service. The action plan gives one worker the task of preparing breakfast boxes by 7:30 and checks sales every Friday.
The number, date, owner, and review point make this usable. “Sell more breakfasts” does not.
Put the planning cycle in order.
Review comes after action, then informs the next plan.
Write one measurable objective for a café.
Example: “Increase weekday breakfast sales from 20 to 30 by the end of May.”
Objective → strategy → action → review. Keep these levels separate. A social-media advert is an action, not the whole strategy.
Do not treat a cash-flow forecast as a promise. It is an estimate based on assumptions; late payments or an unexpected repair can change it quickly.