Every athlete and team at the Rio Olympics has spent considerable time developing their game plan for the big day.  It is the combination of their consideration of their own strengths and weaknesses, the expert advice they have received, and their careful analysis of the competition.

For businesses, this is your business plan, which brings together your analysis of your business's challenges and opportunities, consideration of the competing products and services, and expert advice you have received; it provides you with a clear picture of what your business needs to do to succeed.

While different sports generate a wide variety of game plans the one common theme is that all athletes consider what it is that they have to do to be awarded a gold medal.

Not one athlete gets to that point without a significant amount of focus, determination and effort.  In a similar way there are countless athletes who don't receive a gold medal and there are always a variety of reasons.

There are a lot of similarities to owning and operating a successful business.  Not many business owners are able to create a sustainable business for the long term without having a thorough business plan.  The old saying goes 'if you fail to plan, you plan to fail'.  Generally a lot of businesses start up but don't survive as there is a lack of a detailed business plan which guides the business through the challenges which will arise.

So the question is how good is your game plan and do you know exactly what you need to do to create a sustainable business?