There is a direct connection and suspected high correlation between timid and arrogant companies and their time perspectives. Timid companies do not reach out to the future. Arrogant companies think the future is the next quarter. Both of those orientations eventually fail. The proper length of time covered by a business plan is one of the hot topics among planners and business executives. Heated arguments are made for both long and short time frames. The proper time span in your business plan is critical to its subsequent development and execution. A proper story cannot be constructed if your plan is too short. It is not believable.
Robin Jolley, for example, understood the need for long-term planning in his role as resources manager for a lumber company. While his plan far exceeded our recommended ten-year span, it was necessary for the wood products industry. His mission was to keep the division supplied in trees for lumber. Since the company bought from itself first, he had to know how many board feet were available at any given year. This helped him to project the shortfalls and advise the company to buy more land, plant more trees, or be prepared to buy from the market. A shortfall might mean buying from a competitor at an unattractive price. How long does Robin’s strategic plan reach forward? Try fifty years. Why? Think how long it takes to grow a tree to any size. While Robin’s plan is an extreme, it illustrates the concept of long-term versus short-term planning and the industry-specific nature of a time frame. Of the thirty companies that have implemented the model described in this book within the past five years, 95 percent have opted for the ten-year zone. After careful consideration of their industry rhythm they saw the value of reaching out to the future.