Overcoming Implementation Issues

Many business plans don't happen. In the business world, a tiny number of the business plans that get written result in sustained businesses. Many don't get started at all due to lack of funding; a few get started but limp along for a time, then fold. Some businesses get gobbled up by other companies. The same is true of public health business plans: they don't always work. An evaluation of the Management Academy for Public Health found that about 30% of all business plans generated got implemented in one form or another. A more recent survey places that number closer to 50%. The people writing those business plans even had nine months of coaching and instruction.

Why do so many plans "fail"? One reason is because they don't get start-up money to do the project. Another reason is because they may not have support for the program from decision-makers. Sometimes, during the planning process, people realize that the program isn't a good fit for the organization at the moment. Often times the program doesn't have the staff it needs—people crucial to the project get reassigned or leave.

Many of the teams that don't implement their initial business plan do find opportunities to write other business plans. So business planning is a good process, even though individual business plans often don't get implemented.

One more point: failure to implement a plan isn't necessarily a bad outcome. A business plan is partly an analytical tool. If your analysis concludes that the idea isn't likely to work, then you really shouldn't try to implement it.