Awhile back, I introduced you to the six systems that control the fate of your construction business. Once again to refresh your memory, they were:

1. Marketing
2. Sales
3. Staffing
4. Planning
5. Tracking
6. Financial Control

Today, I am going to expand on the six planning systems you need to establish.

Planning means solving problems before they arise. Planning means making your decisions with your head (logic) instead of your heart (emotion). Planning eliminates unpleasant surprises. Planning brings about goal achievement. Planning keeps everyone on the same page and moving in the same direction.

You need planning systems for:
Determining Which Markets To Pursue
This process is known by many names with strategic planning, business planning, and strategic marketing being the most familiar. Regardless of what you call it, determining which market to pursue is your second most important planning process. Your market controls your destiny.

Before committing your financial future to a market, you must research the following issues.

• Can you track down enough prospects?
• Can you market to the prospects cost effectively?
• Do clients value anything beyond low price?
• Does the work require expensive equipment?
• Can you find enough sufficiently skilled people to do the work?
• Is competition weak and are margins high?
• Do you have the cash reserves to survive thebmarket's pay cycle?

The more you research market needs, market size, and entrenched competition the more likely you are to pick the right market - the one that will support the growth of your business. Once you've picked a market, you need to write down your plan for generating leads (marketing) and handling the work.

Creating Your Annual (Income) Budget
Your annual (income) budget is the financial representation of your business plan. Your annual budget is your most important planning process. I've never met a highly profitable contractor who didn't rely on annual budgets to guide his (or her) business.