Start at The End

Start at the End– Page 1
START AT THE END

How Companies Can Grow Bigger and
Faster By Reversing Their Business Plans
DAVE LAVINSKY
DAVE LAVINSKY is the cofounder and president of Growthink, Inc., a consulting and publishing firm. Growthink has helped
more than 2,500 clients develop business plans and has consulted with more than 500,000 entrepreneurs and business
owners. In addition to Growthink, Dave Lavinsky has started and sold Emerge Juice and Nutrition Systems, Shoutmouth, Z
Reporter LLC and Top Paying Keywords. He has published articles in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times,
Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc., Business Week and The Los Angeles Times. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los
Angeles and the University of Virginia.
The Web site for this book is at www.startatend.com.
ISBN 978-1-77544-754-2
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Start at the End– Page 1
MAIN IDEA How to write a great strategic business plan

The best way to write a business plan is to reverse
the normal order and start at the end. Precisely
1 2 3 4 5 6
define what your end game is and then work
backwards to identify what you need to be doing Specify Identify your Create your Systematize Document Figure out
now in order for that perfect end game to come your end best step-by-step key functions your practical
about. Reverse engineer the future to clarify what game opportunities action plan and develop strategic ways to
you need to be doing in order to get there. to realize improvement plan accelerate
that vision plans your
progress
Where you want to
Your end game
be in the future
1. Specify your end game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 2
Your growth Great business plans begin at the end. Develop a vision from your customer’s
plan for how Your strategic perspective and also from a business perspective. Break that destination down into
to get there business plan annual, quarterly and monthly goals.
2. Identify your best opportunities to realize that vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 3
Focus on opportunities which leverage your strengths and build on what you already do
This is the planning approach professional sports well. Don’t get sidetracked into solving problems that don’t warrant fixing.
organizations use. Players show up for preseason 3. Create your step-by-step action plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
training with everyone knowing their team goal is to Figure out what are the right business assets you need to build and then set out a timeline
win the championship. Everything they do is for putting those assets in place. Develop a scorecard with your key performance
performed with that singular goal in mind and indicators (KPIs) and then religiously track how you’re doing in each of those KPIs
there’s not a player, a member of the coaching team week-in and week-out. Think about the KPIs you would want to know if you were looking
or even a team fan who doesn’t know what the at buying a competing business and get strong in each of those areas.
organization’s ultimate goal is.
4. Systematize key functions and develop improvement plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pages 5 - 6
This same kind of focus works equally well in
Make sure your business works for you and not the other way around. Systematize
business. You might not have a championship to
everything you do and get the right team in place. The easiest and quickest way to
win and your timeframe might be much longer than
achieve this is to upgrade three plans – your marketing plan, your HR plan and your
a single season but you need to have an clear end
customer lockup plan. Track results in each of these three areas and improve.
game articulated that everyone is working towards
and then reverse engineer from there. 5. Document your strategic plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
“The right business plan can transform your Put your strategic plan down in writing so everyone focuses on the same set of goals. If
business. It can boost your sales and profits, and people don’t understand what success looks like, they can’t possibly achieve it. Be
allow you to achieve the goals you had when you specific.
first launched or purchased your business. 6. Figure out practical ways to accelerate your progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8
However, your business plan can only do this if you Meet monthly to gauge your performance against your plan and to adjust your goals for
complete it properly. Most important, you must start the next month and the next quarter to reflect changes in the marketplace. Motivate
with the end. You must dream big about what you’d everyone to spend more time on high yield activities and lead by example. Find workable
like your business to achieve. Once you have that ways to help everyone do more of what works and less of what does not.
crystal-clear vision, you can begin planning and
reverse engineering it.”
– David Lavinsky
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Start at the End– Page 1

START AT THE END

MAIN IDEA How to write a great strategic business plan

We condense 300+ page business books into

By reading summaries, you’ll get the key ideas in

Knowledge is Power — Invest in Your Future

1,000 Top Business Book Summaries

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