I know it’s a bit of a cliche, but sometimes a cliche is the best way to say something.
When is the best time to write a marketing plan? Maybe at the start of a new financial year, or perhaps a couple of months before the new year when there is time to get the plan agreed and implementation underway and make a flying start to the year. Maybe it’s best to do it in a quiet time – summer holidays, or over Christmas and the New Year?
I think you’ll find that when the (theoretically) best time for writing that marketing plan comes along there will be lots of other things to do too. And in amongst the list will be some URGENT stuff that just has to be done right now. For most of us, urgent not only needs doing now, but it’s easier than the important (non-urgent) things on our to-do list.
Scarcity of resource is a constant challenge in business, and especially in the exciting, growing businesses – there’s never enough money to make the investments we know we ought to make and never enough time to do all the things we should do.
I suspect that one of the key differences between businesses that sustain and increase growth and those that don’t is finding the time and money to do the important, rather than keep putting it off until it trips us up. Sometimes that might even mean consciously not addressing the urgent (especially if it’s not actually important)!
So to return to the question – when is the best time to write a marketing plan? NOW – not tomorrow, next week, next month, after the current crisis is over, when the new recruit arrives … as the guys at Nike say “Just Do It”. Find a way and get it done; you know it makes sense!
Chris