In the last four posts, I’ve discussed the components of a micro-business plan from the perspective of someone considering starting a trucking company. But business plans are not just for people looking to start a business — they need to become an important part of your growing and developing business. The business plan review is something every trucking company owner should do twice a year or any time you are considering taking your business in a different direction, expanding or growing.

The most important fact to remember is that a business plan is not written in stone. Instead, it needs to be a living, breathing document that adapts with the flow of the economy and the segment of the trucking industry for which you haul.

Reviewing your business plan is simple: You are trying to find out whether you’re achieving your business objectives.

Let’s look at the steps.

Step 1. Determine where you are currently and where you expected to be at this time in your venture.

Step 2. Inspect whether you are meeting or exceeding your revenue projections. If not, what is the cause and is there a solution to bring you up to speed? Or, were your expectations too high and need to be adjusted a bit lower? If you’re meeting or exceeding your revenue expectations, then should you expand your future projections or did an unexpected bonanza pop up that is not likely to occur in the future?

Step 3. Identify the other targets in your plan, such as number of trucks and drivers, more customers or new lanes or sectors. Are you meeting those targets or do you need to rethink your strategy to obtain them?

Step 4. Analyze what the future holds. How does the economy look for the area in which you operate? What’s on the horizon for the types of products you haul? What about specific customers? Is the economy growing, shrinking or staying the same for all those areas? (Remember the national economy can be good or bad overall, but it’s the economy of the area, products and customers you operate within that is of greatest concern in your evaluation.)

Step 5. Look at your personal life. What has changed in your life that would affect your focus or goals concerning your trucking company? Personal life has a habit of inflicting different challenges on your business and vice versa. Part of owning a business means making adjustments that cause your personal life and business to run more smoothly. Without this review, you can get into a rut and not even be aware of it until it rears its ugly head as a major problem.

Step 6. Evaluate your contingency plans. How will you ensure business continuity in the event of: a natural disaster, a major traffic accident involving one of your trucks, or a sudden change in either your business or personal life which would require you sell or liquidate? It’s very important to have a defined plan to handle these events and an exit plan if it ever becomes necessary.

Trucking and life comes at you at 65mph or faster. Even if you’ve been in the business for years, to stay on track, stop every so often and look and see where you are now and in what direction(s) you’re headed.

Good loads and good roads, everyone.