It was Tim Berry who said, “Good business planning is nine parts execution for every one part strategy.” In uncertain times, good planning is essential — and it’s never a bad call to sit down and take the time to plan out your next move. Still, Mr. Berry was right: you need good action more than you need planning.

While it’s time to make some plans, it’s even more important to follow those plans with decisive and big actions. Now is not the time for small thinking. With all that in mind, here are three things to consider as you start making business plans in 2023.

Build For The Bounce

“Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small.”

Sun Tzu

Not too long from now, we’ll see a surge in real estate. What are you doing to prepare for it? Don’t believe me? I want you to think back to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a season of uncertainty, things came back in a big way. If you knew then what you know now, how do you wish you would have handled the downtime?

That’s what I call Building for the Bounce. Get creative. Get ready for change. Plan now for huge success that’s just around the corner — then go make it happen. Your future is in your hands, and that future is bright.

Have and Share Vision

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

Yogi Berra

Decide where you want to be and what it really looks like. A lack of specificity in your goals just leaves room for mediocrity to sneak in. Because your business is rarely just you, this should be a somewhat collaborative effort; even the captain of the ship wisely consults the navigator and other key parts of the crew before deciding where and how to sail.

Once the end goal is well and truly defined, chart a course to get there. Again, specificity is your friend — exactly what you’ll implement, how you’ll implement it, and how you plan to measure its efficacy are all a part of this stage. Remember to keep your plan as a framework that can be adapted. A rigid, unmoving plan will only ultimately hurt you.

Just Do It

“Good intentions might sound nice, but it’s positive actions that matter.”

Tim Fargo

The best thing you can do for your business plan is to do it. If it sounds simplistic, I only say it because I’ve seen too many people get caught in a self-defeating cycle of theory and planning without actually doing anything. Don’t get so worried about whether or not it will work that you get paralyzed.

It’s easiest to steer a moving boat. A plan in action will be more agile than all the theory in the world. Every good plan is trumped by better, more decisive action. So plan — and plan well. Just be sure that your planning doesn’t get in the way of action.

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