Business planning is an extremely enjoyable, ongoing process for me -- now. But I remember when it was a struggle, a "should", something I felt I "had" to do as a business owner, but that didn't give me much joy. I had spent years creating successful plans as a fund raising professional (quite easily, I might add), but for some reason, I felt a great deal of resistance within me when it came to creating a plan for my own business. That resistance ended up being complex and required a lot of clearing.
Part of my resistance to business planning was because I really loved working with the spiritual laws, and I didn't want to get caught up in some of the "negative" energies around business and money I witnessed in the material realm. And, of course, I associated business planning with these energies!
But, gradually, my polarized way of thinking changed. Reading this sentence in Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer's book, Creating Money, assisted that transformation: "It will take less of your energy to attract, save and create more money if you are in harmony with both the spiritual and man-made laws of money." And, if you're a business owner, one of the man-made laws of money is business planning. So I set out to develop a business planning model for myself that harmonized the physical and metaphysical laws of commerce.
A Manifestation Tool
Many wonderful dreams and business ideas never materialize because they have not been clearly envisaged and grounded. A written business plan enables you to get very clear about your vision for your business, to ground this vision in the physical world and to align/focus your energy as you act on your plan. It's a fabulous manifestation tool!
Inspired business planning integrates both the spiritual and man-made laws of business development together. Specifically, it:
- connects you to the higher purpose of your business;
- helps you clarify what you desire for your business;
- supports you in clearing any resistance to having what you desire for your business;
- anchors you in a consciousness of faith and love;
- gives you a space in which to receive guidance from your highest levels;
- translates that guidance into the action steps of your plan, as you discern what business-building strategies to use and structures to put in place that will allow you to receive what you're desiring; and
- quantifies the financial aspects of your business.
The Seven Steps to Inspired Business Planning
Inspired business planning is a continuous process that will help you develop your business naturally, utilizing both your intuitive and intellectual capacities in an integrative way. As you go through this process, you'll notice that you feel more balanced and aligned, that the steps to build your business become clearer and you're more trusting and relaxed about the results. You'll experience much growth and expansion.
Inspired business planning is a seven-step process:
1) Determine the higher purpose of your business.
From a spiritual perspective, what function is your business meant to serve? What's your role in the evolution of humanity and our planet, and how will your business allow you to fulfil this purpose?
2) Create key intentions for building your business.
Like clarifying the higher purpose of your business, intentions are part of the "visioning" aspect of your plan. They are the broader goals you establish that will help you fulfil your purpose. What are your intentions?
3) Identify specific objectives and targets you desire related to each intention.
Also part of visioning is defining objectives and specific targets you aim to achieve for each intention. Objectives are more narrowly-defined goals; targets can be both the quantifiable or unquantifiable results you desire. What are your objectives and targets?
4) Tap into your guidance system to determine the action steps associated with each intention and corresponding objective(s) and target(s).
Spending time quieting your mind through meditation or other techniques and thinking/receiving ideas from your highest levels will lead you to the action steps of your plan. What action steps are you guided to take?
5) Clarify your financial inflow and outflow.
How much will it cost you to operate your business, create your offerings and get them out to the world? What level of revenue are you open to receiving on a monthly and/or yearly basis? How will you price your offerings to match that revenue level?
6) Clear resistance that may come up as you create and implement your plan.
Resistance is a belief, thought and accompanying feeling that disallows your natural state of well-being. The intention of building a prosperous, fulfilling business can bring up any number of fearful, resistant thoughts and feelings. These can prevent you from creating a business plan in the first place or from taking the actions your plan describes. What resistant beliefs, thoughts and feelings do you have about creating and implementing your business plan? How can you release this resistance?
7) Operate from love and faith by using prayer, visualizations and affirmations.
When you operate from love and faith, your actions are more joyful and inspired and you more easily attract clients and customers. Prayer, visualizations and affirmations are powerful tools that will anchor you in a state of love, trust and surrender. What prayers, visualizations and affirmations will support you as you build your business?
The real gifts of inspired business planning are in the process of creating the plan and implementing it, without being rigidly attached to the plan or its outcomes. So it's helpful to remain flexible and allow your plan to change and evolve as you gain more knowledge, guidance, perspective and clarity. Keeping your inner focus on higher essence states such as joy, generosity and gratitude is also important. As Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer say in Creating Money, "the process of getting there is the quality of being there."
Copyright 2008 Mary C. Davis
Self Improvement 
