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Writer Miller focuses on small businesses, specifically those that deal in remodeling and building trades, to demonstrate the need and the method for creating a comprehensive corporate plan. Any small business may struggle to survive. However, with a structured, all-encompassing proposition and the step-by-step processes that accompany its development, chances for success will greatly expand.
Miller’s thorough and thoughtful manual surveys and explores in detail every aspect of the planning process. Drawing from the National Association of Home Builders, he cites the “Six Ps” needed for companies to succeed: Purpose, Planning, Process, People, Performance, and Progress. Plans should include information about the company’s executive structure, its overarching vision, general marketing goals, and methodologies of operation, among other vital components. Miller offers orderly, pragmatic steps for businesses to take in examining and stating their organization’s relevant capabilities, performance, and promises, utilizing such broad data as maintaining contact with the potential and previous customer base through written reminders from salespersons and the company’s president, including periodic newsletters. Miller believes that these efforts will amplify and sustain a thriving business.
Miller is an exemplar of the materials he offers to businesses as owner of several consulting and educational groups and construction enterprises, all of which bear his name. He shares his knowledge here in a highly organized format with four appendices that include a complex “Standard Business Plan Template.” In his wide-ranging compendium, he urges businesses to set and describe their short- and long-term goals and their visions for such significant details as scheduling and budgeting, along with a short but vital description of the company’s history, location, and membership in professional organizations. Miller makes a convincing case for small business planning that should be studiously considered both by groups centered on building trades and any small industry seeking further expansion and recognition.