Business Planning – January 2025

Whether it’s as simple as writing down goals in a document or completing a full, comprehensive market analysis, the importance of business planning cannot be overstated. Business planning is a roadmap everyone in the business can follow to ensure future decision making and growth is agreeable with the business, its values and its employees. The benefits of business planning extend far beyond just helping guide day-to-day decisions. It can also help secure funding from investors, allocate resources effectively, attract talent, expose weaknesses and even exceed competitors.

The New Year calls for a fresh start. Take advantage of these Lincoln experts who make business planning easy, sustainable and tailored to companies’ unique needs.

A business plan outlines how an organization operates, along with its goals and strategies to achieve them. A robust business plan accounts for areas beyond financial performance to include roadmaps for employees, human resources, products and services, as well as planning for a business’s technology needs.

Whether a business is new or has been around for many years, creating an annual plan helps a business determine how it will manage its growth and needs in the coming years. It’s important to have a plan for measurement and goal-setting purposes as well as to plan and prepare for future needs. It’s just as important, however, to leave room for flexibility as things change. As short-term and long-term goals adjust over time, so should a business’s technology plan.

Hamilton (hamiltonisbusiness.com) works with its clients to review their current plans and prepare for adjustments in advance for the upcoming year. Hamilton encourages businesses to review their technology goals, needs and plans while they prepare their financial budgets and other preparations for the New Year.

One of the most important steps a business or organization can take to maintain their plan is to track results regularly and review for adjustments as needed. “We encourage our clients to make plans for the immediate future as well as for the long term,” says Ryan Wineteer, Hamilton Business Development Manager. “Having one-year, three-year and five-year technology plans are essential to ensure your employees and staff are equipped with the technology they need as your business grows.”

The advantage of working with Hamilton is that Hamilton provides its clients with comprehensive plans that encompass solutions businesses might not have thought of!

With that, creating and adhering to a business plan is important because it describes a business’s product or service, its target market, upfront capital requirements, projected income and expenses, competitive environment and real estate requirements. It also provides a strategy and a structure to get the business off the ground, and it may be necessary to obtain financing from a lender.

For example, when working with tenants who have new businesses, Greenleaf Commercial Real Estate (greenleafcommercial.com) strongly advises those tenants to develop a business plan because landlords might ask to review a plan as part of their assessment to determine a tenant’s likelihood of success.

Greenleaf Commercial Real Estate is a full-service commercial real estate company that offers its customers brokerage, consulting, development and property management services.

With roots dating back to 1973, Greenleaf believes in building relationships and strives to understand each client’s objectives to develop a strategy that meets a client’s specific needs.

“The most important thing about maintaining a successful business plan is flexibility,” says Director of Brokerage Services Brett Harris. “While it’s important to stick to your plan as much as possible, it’s likely that you will have to modify certain aspects of your business as you move through the start-up phase and adjust to unexpected conditions.”

Business planning also involves sorting and managing payroll responsibilities such as providing employees with annual tax statements like W-2s and 1099s, distributing year-end bonuses and adjusting benefit contributions. Tax withholding calculations should be reviewed to align with current regulations and individual employee circumstances. Compliance with tax regulations at various levels and the filing of requisite forms are essential but can be confusing. Payroll at the end of the year demands meticulous attention to detail to ensure both legal compliance and employee satisfaction, so look to PayWorks LLC (payworksllc.com) for expert advice and solutions.

PayWorks LLC provides full-service payroll solutions, bookkeeping services and more while keeping up with the ever changing payroll laws and regulations at a fair and reasonable cost. PayWorks is dedicated to providing its business clients with the personal attention they deserve.

Owner and Manager, Terry Clark, is celebrating 25 years in the payroll and bookkeeping industry. With the latest software technology and Terry’s attention to detail, experience and knowledge as a member of the Lincoln community, PayWorks is more than equipped to help any business organize its finances and create a business plan that will help it succeed.

“It’s always my goal that the employer has confidence in me, so they know their finances are being properly organized,” said Owner Terry Clark.

Likewise, Cruise & Associates (cruise-associates.com) takes business planning seriously so its clients don’t have to. Since the beginning, Cruise & Associates’ goal has been to help small to mid-size owners grow their business and take it to the next level.

Cruise & Associates specializes in working with individuals and businesses to handle income tax, business and financial service needs and believes the key to running a successful business is giving clients personal service. Cruise & Associates’ clients are assigned an accountant to work with them year-round, so he/she gets to know their business on a deeper level.

Building client relationships helps create an environment where owners can do what they do best, which is running their business. They do not need to be focusing on paying bills, tracking finances, paying employees or trying to figure out QuickBooks. Cruise & Associates’ accountants and bookkeepers can help take that stress away.

Cruise & Associates accountants are available to answer questions year-round, making business planning easy like never before!

“We listen to a business owners’ needs and work one-on-one with them to develop a plan for their business,” says President Robert Cruise. “We spend time to develop a custom strategy because what works for one person doesn’t work for everyone. We believe in educating and providing our clients with the tools needed to be successful.”

Another major area to consider when business planning is advertisement! In this day and age, with the immediate gratification social media and technology plays in the lives of everyone, it is important to have eye-catching, effective advertising if a business is to grow and profit!

Sign Pro (signprolincoln.com) has been providing customers with the best in signs and graphics for more than 30 years. Many individual and commercial clients throughout southeastern Nebraska have come to depend on the tasteful, eye-catching signs Sign Pro delivers.

Sign Pro won’t stop until it has come up with the right solution for each client’s special signage project. Whether a business requires advertisement for a one-time event, signage for a construction site or is celebrating a new opening, Lincoln businesses can depend on Sign Pro to meet every need. The following signage is available but not limited to:

• Banners. Banners are a budget-friendly way to draw attention with vibrancy, generating excitement and high visibility. Businesses can make banners attractive by incorporating photos, full color designs or computer graphics.
• Vehicle Wraps and Decals. Vehicle graphics are one of the most cost-effective forms of advertising on the market because they are visible every day, everywhere. People see the signage when they are driving down the street, on the way to work, taking the kids to school, heading to the grocery store or just out for a drive.
• Exterior and Storefront Signage. Effective storefront signs are the number one attractant of new customers and clients. A business’s storefront is the first opportunity to catch the attention of someone who may be interested in what one has to offer.

Sign Pro of Lincoln offers a wide variety of signage solutions to fit any project or budget. Even if a business’s project idea does not fit into one of Sign Pro’s listed signage options, Sign Pro is always ready to come up with custom solutions!

Business planning also provides an opportunity to reevaluate costs that are tax deductible, but tax planning and tax prep is not for the faint of heart. Thankfully, SP Group P.C. (spgrouppc.com) of Lincoln has experts that know just how to help!

SP Group pours all of its energy into getting to know its clients, so it can provide the best tax planning, tax prep and business support services.

SP Group believes in the power of positive relationships, and the firm’s simple beginnings have kept it humble. SP Group takes great pride in the success of its clients and the path it has traveled together as it has grown alongside them.

The following exhibit the four cornerstones of SP Group and its certified public accountants:

1. Relationships. SP Group creates and fosters long-term relationships to help develop a deeper insight into who its clients are and what drives them to succeed.
2. Power of Team. SP Group serves clients most effectively and efficiently by combining the unique talents of each member of its staff into one strong cohesive team.
3. Life/Work Balance. SP Group’s professionals aim to give the same energy to serving their clients as they would devote to their own personal interests, family and friends and community.
4. Competitiveness. SP Group is a team that likes to win–its competitive sports-minded culture makes SP Group’s firm better at achieving success for clients at large.

This foundation is why SP Group has been Lincoln business’ go-to for business planning and tax support services! Now, what does one do if finances or time means business planning really needs to be more of a DIY project? Check out Alpha Zed (systemssuperhero.com)!

“A business plan is a map of the processes that run your business, such as production, marketing, communication, HR and finance,” says Systems Strategist Kim Hazelton. “This map guides your decisions, actions and success, so following that map is the best way to reach your destination, which is where we can help!”

Alpha Zed Business Services follows a framework that walks clients through the exercise of mapping out their business processes with a goal of maximum efficiency.

“You should figure out and document processes, so you don’t have to try and remember next steps. Then, automate where possible to make the best use of your resources,” notes Hazelton.

Alpha Zed Business Services helps business by implementing systems like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and automation, enabling streamlined productivity from the core.

Business owners often underestimate the complexities of managing various tasks and data or delay implementing systems, thinking it’s unnecessary at the early stages. However, setting a strong foundation facilitates smoother growth.

Alpha Zed Business Services helps a company ensure it has good back-office processes in place and automates those processes where possible, allowing operations to run more efficiently. Alpha Zed Business Services understands the efficiency they help implement has a positive impact on the bottom line in these ways:

• Businesses don’t have to pay as many staff members or can pay employees to perform revenue-generating tasks, rather than admin tasks.
• Businesses are less likely to lose money due to their missing important follow-up dates.
• Businesses can rely on automation to track and send out reminders for late payments.

Automation, a rapidly expanding field, holds great potential for businesses. Yet, navigating it can be daunting. Alpha Zed serves as a guiding partner, helping business owners embrace new technologies rather than fearing them.

“Take a look at the various software tools you’re using. Have you been piecing together a mish-mash of tools to handle your systems? Are they still serving your needs? Consider an all-in-one process automation platform that can support things like your website, CRM, marketing, sales funnel, booking, email marketing and team and customer communication,” says Hazelton.

For business owners struggling to take that first step toward improvement, planning ahead with Alpha Zed will ensure a solid foundation for growth!

Similarly, Panology (panologyinc.com) helps support business planning via its innovative technology solutions. Business planning is obviously important, but it is imperative that companies remember that it is now the 21st Century. Technology must be a core element of any business strategy.

Panology offers experienced technology consulting and solutions that focus on each business’s special needs. Whether a business needs a long-term service agreement or has a short-term project, Panology is prepared to meet a business where it is at. Panology’s services expand as its business partners grow, so it is always looking for ways to save a business money on its technology needs.

Panology pays special attention to small businesses because Panology is a small business itself! Panology understands the struggles small businesses face, especially of the technology kind. Small businesses can’t simply “notify the IT Department” every time something goes awry. This is where Panology can help.

Panology’s objective is always to drive the highest possible value for its client’s technology dollar. Panology proudly accepts the responsibility of providing fast, quality technology information, so its business clients can continue to exercise the best business planning possible.

Business planning is essential for businesses wishing to grow and become more than average. Developing a consistent and collaborative vision alongside these Lincoln experts is just the guidance a business needs to soar!