Notes From a Recent Planning Session

Last Thursday, I sat in a small boardroom in Johannesburg with three women who run separate retail businesses — a boutique clothing line, a specialty food brand, and a homeware supplier. We were there to talk about the next quarter, but the conversation kept circling back to the same problem: how to plan growth when every forecast feels like a guess.

The session was not about grand strategy. It was about the mundane decisions that determine whether a small business survives the next six months. We talked about stock levels, payment terms with suppliers, and whether to hire a part-time bookkeeper or keep doing the books ourselves. These are not glamorous topics, but they are the ones that keep founders awake at night.

What the Numbers Actually Told Us

Each founder brought a simple spreadsheet — revenue by month, cost of goods, and a list of outstanding invoices. The patterns were striking. All three businesses had grown revenue over the past year, but cash flow was tighter than the top-line numbers suggested. The gap between invoicing and payment was stretching to 45 days or more, and that delay was quietly eating into their ability to restock.

One founder shared a simple fix she had implemented the previous month: she now asks for a 30% deposit on custom orders. It was a small change, but it shifted the cash conversation with her clients and gave her more room to negotiate with her own suppliers. The other two women took notes.

The Staff Question

We spent a good twenty minutes on hiring. None of the three businesses could afford a full-time operations manager, but all of them were feeling the strain of doing everything themselves. The practical answer, it turned out, was not a new hire. It was better documentation — writing down the processes that currently live in each founder's head so that a part-time assistant or a family member can step in during busy weeks.

One founder had already started this. She keeps a simple checklist for her weekly stock count and a folder of supplier contacts with notes on who delivers on time and who does not. It sounds basic, but it means she can take a day off without the business grinding to a halt.

What We Decided to Try

By the end of the session, we had agreed on three concrete actions. First, each founder would review her top five suppliers and negotiate better payment terms — even if that just means asking for an extra week. Second, they would each set aside one afternoon to document their core processes. Third, we would meet again in six weeks to compare notes on what worked and what did not.

None of this is revolutionary. But that is exactly the point. The most useful planning sessions are not the ones where you dream up bold new strategies. They are the ones where you look at your actual numbers, admit what is not working, and leave with a short list of things you can do next week.