I imagine you do what I do when you get on a plane. While you are about to turn right, you look left into the cockpit to make sure there is someone in a uniform checking a list – twice. You want to know there is someone at the pointy end who has a flight plan – where they are going, how they will get there. If not, you won’t get on the plane.
Yet as soon as you take off the unseen gust of wind will take the plane fractionally off course. No problem, it has a computer which will adjust things, so they are back on course – on plan. In smaller planes you have to make the adjustment yourself.
Your 2020 plans? The ones which have been so carefully, painstakingly crafted, SMARTed, visioned, objectified and written? They are just like that flight plan.
It is now the end of the first week into January. You are already flying off course. You have probably already made some adjustments – or not.
The reality (Actual in budget terms) is always different to the plan. See: I told you I knew something about your plans – the reality will be different.
This is not an issue – it is what you do about it, what action you take to get back on course, that counts most and will have the most significant effect of the eventual outcome.
At this stage of the year, you can still make the adjustments you need to get back to your plan. This is why you have a plan in the first place – it gives you the choice about whether to take action or not.
Some say that if you don’t know where you’re going, don’t worry – you’ll get there.
For those of you who prefer more certainty, use a plan. Just be prepared for the choices you have to make when – and not if – reality strikes.
Buzzwords of the Week –Corporation Tax
Definition – Direct tax on the profits of a corporation. In the UK at the time of writing, the standard rate is 19%. However, corporate income tax (CIT) rates differ substantially across countries, ranging from 9 percent in Hungary to 34.4 percent in France. Europe’s average CIT rate (22.5 percent) is slightly higher than the global average (21.4 percent). In the US its 21%
Alternate View – It’s January!! The month when that tax has to be paid, usually around 9 months after your financial year end. No one likes paying it, but in the UK we like our NHS, schools and armed forces so look at what we buy with it! And when you compare rates, the UK’s 19% begins to look a bit of a bargain. But I can understand if you don’t feel that when authorizing the payment to Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs – great name for a tax authority.