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Got game?

Entrepreneur, Oct, 2004 by Chris Penttila

Most entrepreneurs have a business plan. But what about a game plan?

While a business plan is a document aimed at impressing investors, a game plan is a document implemented inside a company to sell managers and employees on a realistic look at the business and the goals to reach. Game plans "look at what's working and what's not," says Jan B. King, an El Segundo, California, media consultant and author of Business Plans to Game Plans.

Entrepreneurial introspection appears to be a growing trend: Sixty-four percent of fast-growing companies now have strategic plans in place that they reassess annually or more frequently, according to a study last summer by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

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Make sure your business plan is in place before thinking about a game plan. If sales need to increase 50 percent over the next 12 months, for example, the game plan will lay out what everyone in the company needs to do on the job to make it happen.

To get started, outline a few companywide goals, and discuss how the team can get there. Involve employees and advisors in the process, then update the game plan annually to reflect new goals and strategies. This is one case where gaming the system just might work.

Business Services Industry

Got game?

Entrepreneur, Oct, 2004 by Chris Penttila

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