Business Planning Workbook Gives Business Owners the Power to Design Their Company's Future

Many businesses operate with an outdated business plan--or without a written business plan at all to guide the company leadership and their team. Although these leaders may achieve a certain level of success for their businesses, often times this success comes at the cost of losing out in other areas of their lives.

Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) May 7, 2007 - The Clay Nelson Life Balance Business Planning Workbook -- Getting What You Say You Want is designed to help business owners get past the misconceptions and procrastinations that often get in the way of writing a business plan and move forward in creating a powerful document that will provide focus when the direction ahead may not seem so clear.A written business plan:

• Helps you discover what you know and don't know about your competition--and your own company's strengths and weaknesses within your market.
• Guides company management as they make decisions that shape short-term and long-term business strategies.
• Defines the responsibilities of each team member in the company, and provides the basis for accountability in handling those responsibilities for the benefit of the company.
• Provides at-a-glance assessments of a company's financial position, cash flow and overhead costs.
• Creates benchmarks for measuring progress towards goals and objectives, and shows you when you've gotten there.

Company founder Clay S. Nelson explains further, "Without a written plan, it is very easy for your circumstances to own you and wear you out -- it will happen long before you even realize it. And in the meantime, your team won't know what they're supposed to be doing, you'll risk losing focus on what you want for your company, and most important of all, you won't have the time to take care of yourself and your family."The Business Planning Workbook also includes a discussion on what Nelson cites as a common excuse for not having and using a written business plan: it's no fun!"Respectfully, the fact of the matter is that business planning is only as fun as YOU choose to make it." Nelson continues, "Why not approach writing your plan from the perspective that you are not just creating the means to maintain the status quo, but designing an outrageous future for your company and your team? After all, the first step towards reaching the successes that you say you want, is being able to articulate them in writing."Nelson is known nationally as a business and life coach, motivational speaker and workshop leader. He founded Clay Nelson Life Balance out of what he saw was a greater need: helping people and companies fulfill their potential, maximize profits and most importantly, make themselves and their families happier.The Business Planning Workbook is available for ordering at the company's web site as a printed and bound edition, as well as an Acrobat PDF download. Two companion volumes are also available: The Marketing Workbook, which helps the reader develop a marketing plan to reach objectives outlined in their business plan, and the Accountability Workbook, which provides powerful tools that business owners can use to produce outstanding results in both their business and personal lives.For more information on the Business Planning Workbook and Clay Nelson Life Balance products and services, please visit https://www.claynelsonlifebalance.com.See the full version of this press release at http://www.prweb.com/releases/businessmanagement/businessplanning/prweb524481.htm