If you are a one-person shop and your business feels like it's out of control, you are not alone.  Here are a few "watch out" items for you, depending on what type of person you are.  They are based on the idea that certain temperaments in people lead those people, be adept at and thus focus on certain activities - sometimes at the exclusion of other types of activities.

• If you love accounting - WATCH OUT for marketing.  Outsource it or make a conscientious effort to focus on and improve your efforts at marketing.
• If you are good at marketing - WATCH OUT that your books aren't a mess. 
• If you tend to take action quickly - WATCH OUT for big-picture thinking.  In other words, make time to understand the overall strategy and possible long-term implications of your current business activities.
• If you are good at strategy - WATCH OUT for the details.  Come up with a good way to make yourself follow-though on the day-to-day operations.

No, it isn't rocket science.  Bigger corporations handle this by hiring those with temperament and training well suited for each type of activity to handle each respective type of activity.  Micro-enterprises may deal with this by outsourcing.  But, if you are wearing all the hats (yet only have one type of temperament) then these WATCH OUT''s may help.

There is an additional WATCH OUT, regarding this concept of one's temperament.  Chris Gibbons, commonly known as the father of Economic Gardening concept, sums it up this way, "If you hire people like yourself, your company strengths will get stronger, and your company weaknesses will get weaker."

I consult and train on business plan development.  Like most others who do this, I encourage those I assist to make their business plan a living document.  Revisit it often.  Review and update regularly.  That makes a lot of sense in today's world, but the reality is, most of the time these end up in a drawer collecting dust.  They are useful because they help a person think through their business venture.  Having to articulate something in writing is very good for that.  Additionally, the process of writing a plan creates buy-in when the whole team is involved, not to mention the fact that it helps ensure that partners are on the same page.  And, the most common use for a plan I've seen is to secure funding from a lender or investor. So, the plan is written and accomplishes much of the aforementioned things. 

But, do they revisit it frequently?  Is it fluid?  Does it get updated?  No. 

Rarely, if ever do most small business owners actually update their plan. The version they took to the bank is the last version ever drafted (until they need another loan). 

Do they operate according to the plan?  Maybe.  But, for the most part, the plan is placed in a drawer and collects dust.

I've found that one of the valuable uses for the Business Model Canvas is helping a business keep their plan fluid.  Helping them think through changes and make changes to the plan is best done when they have a visual tool that makes it simple and easy to think through adaptations, changes and improvements.  The business model canvas keeps the business planning process alive, even after the business plan document is stuck in a drawer to collect dust.

What helps you maintain perspective of your company's direction and keep the plan current?

Today my wife is bottling salsa.  This year our little garden has done well.  There's nothing like a BLT sandwich with fresh tomatoes and lettuce (no, I don't raise pigs - I go to the store for that).  Although our tomatoes have done well, she needed a few more than were ripe in our garden.  So, I stopped by the local fresh produce stand, Harward Farms. 

They operate a well-run business that has developed and maintained a great reputation throughout the local region they serve.  As she was carefully moving my purchase from the display basket to a box I asked Traci, their cheerful produce stand operator, if the people who started the venture were still around. 

I was delighted to here that Jake and Lenny began operating the produce stand business when they were just youngsters after their father gave them charge of a small piece of farmland.  Two generations earlier their grandfather had started Harward farms, but now their once-little produce division has expanded to nearly thirty roadside stands throughout Utah.

Lesson: Start young.  I love this lesson.  I started a business when I was 15 years old and was dabbling in entrepreneurial ventures even before then.  I work a lot with businesses in remote, rural communities and have learned that long-term, stable growth typically comes from within - meaning local startups.  The key: teach kids (beginning in elementary school) to value innovation and entrepreneurship.  Of course, it also doesn't hurt if they know how to work.

Lesson two: Business models are adaptable.  With the right business model, even as other family farm operations are threatened by the move to large-scale, commodity-style production, the small agriculture business can thrive.

Congratulations Haward Farms!