Why 'Hope' should never be part of your business plan

When times get lean, or the going gets tough, the four-letter-word 'hope' starts popping up. We 're human. We hope things will turn around. We hope for improvements. We hope or wish for more customers/sales/better market conditions.

However, the harsh truth is hope and wishful thinking may make us feel better in the short term but they should never be any part of a longer-term plan or goal. Hope is not a sound strategy.

Here are 5 reasons why you should remove the four-letter-word 'hope' from your vocabulary:

1. Hope is not a plan: If you're relying on hope to carry your business forward, you clearly don't have a solid plan in place. A good business strategy should be based on concrete goals and steps that you can take to achieve them.

2. Hope is not sustainable: almost certainly, hope will run out. Sooner than later, you definitely need to have a solid plan in place that you can execute consistently.

3. Hope is unpredictable: you never know when hope will let you down. Relying on hope is taking a huge risk that things might not go your way. A sound business strategy minimizes risk and maximizes the chances of success.

4. Hope is not reliable: hope is an unreliable source of motivation. It can be there one day and gone the next. It isn't something you control.

5. Hope is not enough: hope is a nice sentiment, but it's not enough to build a successful business on. You need hard work, dedication, and a sound strategy. In times of change and uncertainty, you also need to flex and adapt to current market conditions.

If you want your business to be successful in any market and over the long haul, you need to focus on tangible strategies that you can control and that have a higher likelihood of success.

'Hopefully' this makes sense to you, and makes a difference in what you do going forward!! Small changes today can lead to exponential improvements down the road.