how to critique business plan

How to Critique a Business Plan

by Katie Jensen

Published on 1 Jan 2021

When he completes his business plan, either for internal use or to present to capital sources, an entrepreneur often wonders whether it is ready or needs more work. He may not be sure his marketing strategies are sound or whether the financial projections he created are realistic. A solution is to have one or more trusted business associates review and critique the plan.

Read the full plan completely through and form an overall impression. Read it a second time, making notes in the margins about concepts that are not clear. Clarity is one of the most important attributes of a good business plan. If the reader doesn't get a clear understanding of why the business will be profitable, for example, she might stop reading. Look for completeness -- whether all the vital sections of a business plan have been addressed. Keep an outline of a well-written business plan nearby and compare the plan you're critiquing to this standard. Mark any spelling or grammatical errors you find.

Decide whether the business opportunity is adequately explained. Evaluate whether the size of the market is large enough to sustain growth and allow the company to achieve profitability. Review the explanation of market need -- why the target customers need or want the company's products or services. Look for compelling, tangible benefits for the customers -- some aspect of the product or service that saves them time or money.

Review the sources of revenues listed in the business model section and decide whether they are fully explained. The business model should show how the company will be profitable. Identify whether there is something special about the company's model that will cause it to exceed the profit margins earned by other companies in the industry.

Evaluate the explanation of competitive advantage. Make sure the business owner shows why his products or services provide benefits that are clearly superior to those of his competitors. Judge whether the competitive advantage is sustainable over time.

Review the company's marketing strategies. The strategies should be specific actions the business owner will take, not general statements of intention. The plan should contain detailed cost estimates for implementing each strategy. Look at the financial projections and decide whether the marketing expenditures are reasonable. Many business owners underestimate the cost of selling the company's products or services.

Scrutinize the management team and staffing section to determine whether the team has the necessary skills and business experience to execute the strategies. Identify gaps in the team that need to be filled. Look at the projected growth in staff and decide whether it is sufficient to perform all the management and operations tasks required to meet the company's revenue and profitability goals.

Review the financial projections and assumptions. Look at whether the revenue growth rates and forecast pre-tax profit rates are reasonable -- aggressive yet attainable. Make sure the plan includes a detailed explanation of how the line items in the revenue forecast were calculated. You should be able to replicate the calculations.

If you have quite a few suggested changes to the plan, let the business owner make them and then offer to do a second critique of the plan. Be sure your critique includes praise for aspects of the plan that are outstanding.

How to Critique a Business Plan

• Small Business
• Business Planning & Strategy
• Creating a Business Plan
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• How to Write the Perfect Business Plan
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Once they have completed a business plan, many entrepreneurs wonder if it is ready to present to potential financing sources. They question whether the plan is as clear as it could be and if they have covered all the important points that investors want to see. They realize that the business plan is their first and perhaps only chance to get the investor’s attention. They want to make it as good as it can possibly be. One approach is to ask experienced business associates to critique the plan and provide suggestions about how it can be improved.

Read the plan through at least twice. Don’t read it with a critical eye the first time. Just try to absorb as much information as you can. The second time through, begin making notes about sections that seem unclear or incomplete.

Think like an investor. As you review the plan, ask yourself whether this business looks like a good investment. Many plans dwell too much on how intriguing the company's technology is and ignore the factor of critical importance to investors: Can we make money? Try to identify aspects of the company’s business model that will allow it to earn higher than average profits. Perhaps it has a labor cost advantage over competitors, for example.

Analyze the benefits of the products or services. The plan should give you a clear idea of the superiority of the company’s products or services compared with those offered by competitors. Make sure you see why the target customers have a compelling need for the company’s products or services. If you don’t, suggest that this section of the plan be strengthened.

Evaluate the management team. Ask yourself whether you believe this team is capable of executing the business strategy outlined in the plan. Does the team look complete? Look for gaps in talent or experience that need to be addressed by bringing additional managers aboard. Determine whether the capabilities of the team match up well with the requirements for success in this industry.

Check the assumptions for the financial projections. Make sure the entrepreneur has provided easy-to-follow logic behind the numbers. You should be able to take the revenue assumptions and duplicate the calculations presented. Entrepreneurs tend to present overly optimistic revenue and profit projections. Look for areas where costs were underestimated or omitted altogether. Determine whether the projected revenue growth, particularly in the first two years, seems realistic.

• Small Business Administration: Write a Business Plan
• Check for grammatical and spelling errors. The entrepreneur is so close to the plan document that it is easy for him to overlook common errors in grammar or spelling. Finding a lot of these can be jarring to investors reading the plan and may even cast doubt about the credibility of the statements made in the document.
• The writing style of the plan is important, not just the content. Make sure the entrepreneur conveyed excitement for the venture and its potential. The plan is partially a sales document. Look for a sense of urgency in the plan—that now is exactly the right time to be entering the market. The opportunity is emerging, and significant.

Brian Hill is the author of four popular business and finance books: "The Making of a Bestseller," "Inside Secrets to Venture Capital," "Attracting Capital from Angels" and his latest book, published in 2013, "The Pocket Small Business Owner's Guide to Business Plans."

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20 Questions for Your Q1 Business Plan Review

The end of Q1 is the ideal time for a business plan review.

So how do you even review a business plan?

You’ve heard me say before that having a business plan is an absolutely essential part of getting to where you want to be in life. But no matter how good of a plan you make, at the end of the day, it’s still only a plan – which means it’s meant to be followed, not written and set aside. That’s what this business plan review is for.

It’s the role of a good coach to check in on your progress and keep you on pace, so that’s exactly what I’m hoping to accomplish here in this blog.

According to your business plan , the strategies you’ve put in place so far can either:

• Launch you to where you want to be (if you refine them) or
• Send you spiraling into a crash (if they’re left unchecked)

It’s probably fair to say you’d prefer the first one, right? In that case, I’m giving you one of my favorite simple business plan review techniques. All you have to do is get all your numbers ready, pull up your business plan, and answer 20 questions.

Got everything ready? Then let’s get started…

How often should a business plan be reviewed?

Your business plan should be reviewed at least once per year. In today’s fast-paced business world, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations and lose sight of the bigger picture. That’s why it’s crucial to schedule regular business plan reviews. Updating your business plan annually helps ensure that your company stays competitive and on track to meet its long-term goals. With so much at stake, you can’t afford to wait until the last minute to sift through all the numbers and make necessary changes. By reviewing your business plan regularly, you’ll be able to identify areas of improvement and make strategic adjustments. Don’t let your business plan become a static document. Keep it alive and thriving by scheduling regular reviews.

Business Plan Review Questions to Ask Yourself

Question No. 1: What’s your WHY? This is something you should already have written in your business plan , but it’s a question worth repeatedly asking not just at the end of every quarter but every day. So look at what you wrote down in December and then ask the question again. Has your answer changed? It’s okay if it has but make the adjustment.

Question No. 2: What’s your role?

Define your job, because your job title defines how you approach both your work and your business plan review. Are you operating as a real estate agent or like the CEO of your company?

Question No. 3: Did you make enough money to achieve your WHY?

Before we dive into any of your actual numbers, let’s establish a monetary value for your WHY. Not everything in life has a price tag: love, peace, honesty… But most things do, or at least money plays a role in them. Maybe you want to pay for your kid’s college. Maybe you want to start investing in properties. So ask yourself if over the last three months you’re on the right track for these goals and what being on the right track would actually look like.

Goals vs. Reality

Question No. 4: Units Closed vs. Goal Units Closed?

Question No. 5: Volume vs. Goal Volume?

Question No. 6: GCI vs. Goal GCI?

Question No. 7: What’s your average price per listing?

Add up the sum total of what all your listings have sold for and divide by the number of listings taken.

Are You Following Your Plan?

Question No. 8: Are you using all the lead sources you said you would on your business plan?

Question No. 9: Which lead sources are you underutilizing?

Question No. 10: Have you put in place the systems you wanted to have by Q2?

Question No. 11: In what ways do you need to adjust your plan to catch up to where you want to be by Q3?

Question No. 12: Expenses vs. Income. Are you staying in the right range?

If not, how far off are you and where is that money going?

Finding Your Personal Metrics

Question No. 13: How many conversations did you have?

Then break this down to how many you had each day, week, and month. Create a daily average.

Question No. 14: How many appointments did you take?

Question No. 15: How many conversations does it take you to get an appointment?

It’s simple division that creates massive predictability for your business. You should know this number and “live it” every day. Remember: Appointments are the only currency that matters today.

Question No. 16: How many appointments does it take for you to convert a listing?

Important Questions to Have Framed in Your Office

Question No. 17: How much money do you make from each conversation you have?

Divide your GCI by the total number of conversations you had. Then take this number and put it somewhere that you and every person on your team can see every day. When you don’t feel like making your calls, just remind yourself that this is how much every call is worth to you.

Question No. 18: What went well for you in Q1 and how can you do more of it?

It’s important to not only focus on where you’ve fallen short, because you’re strengths are what you need to rely on here – which means it’s important to know what they are!

Question No. 19: What do you need to stop doing and leave behind in Q2?

It’s time to strip away all the baggage that’s slowing you down, whether that means it’s time to hire someone or maybe it’s a lifestyle habit that’s getting in the way of your success.

Question No. 20: Are you getting to support you need?

In my 35+ years in this business, I’ve never seen anyone figure everything out by themselves. Even for people who are thriving right now, imagine what you could do if you had professional support to guide you on your journey…

My guess is, you’d learn that you’re not setting your goals high enough. Because we don’t know what we’re capable of until we have a valued mentor bring it out of us, push us to new limits, and show us the blind spots we can’t see for ourselves. So, if you’re ready to take this next step and fully commit to becoming the best version of yourself in Q2 and beyond, self-schedule a free coaching consultation right here . It only takes about an hour and might just change your life.

And if you’re already a coaching member or Sphere subscriber , be sure to watch Kay Fairchild’s webinar on conducting a more detailed quarterly business plan review inside of illūm, where she takes you step-by-step through her own extremely valuable quarterly review process.

Need to create a business plan first?

With access to this on-demand business plan webinar , you’ll gain immediate access to our acclaimed seven-point business plan template, essential tips on fostering the right mindset to conquer today’s volatile market, engaging Q&A sessions, and more insights from Tom Ferry. Don’t miss this chance to arm yourself with the knowledge and tools to thrive. Unlock your access to the full video, business plan template, and more!

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Business Plan Review

Jump to section.

A business plan review is an in-depth examination of your business plan and its viability. It can be conducted by a single expert, a panel of experts, or you and your colleagues.

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan is essential for any company wishing to start or expand its operations. It provides a framework for decision-making and helps to make sure that all sections of the organization are working together towards common goals. A good business plan can also help attract investors or obtain loans from banks or other lending institutions.

The main purpose of a business plan is to provide investors with information about the opportunities and challenges facing your company so they can make informed decisions about whether or not they want to invest in it. If they decide to invest, they'll know how much money they are likely to make and what risks might arise during their investment term (usually between five years and ten years).

Of course, not all startups need a full-blown business plan — but if you seek outside funding or investment, it's best to start developing yours as early as possible. And even if you don't seek outside funding, it's still smart to develop a comprehensive plan for your business to clearly define what success looks like and how you'll get there.

What Is a Business Plan Review?

A business plan review should be conducted before you begin your venture, at least once during its life cycle (preferably after you have experienced some success), and when it comes time for you to close up shop. The objective is to identify strengths and weaknesses in your plan so that you can take steps toward improving those areas.

The purpose of a business plan review is not to evaluate the likelihood of success for a given project or company but rather to determine whether the project has been adequately researched and whether the information presented is accurate and comprehensive enough for investors or other stakeholders to make an informed decision about investing in it.

Why Should You Have Your Business Plan Reviewed?

Your business plan is a living document. Over time, it will change as you grow and learn more about your business, market and competition.

But even when the plan isn't changing, it's important to review it regularly to ensure that you're still on track. Here are seven reasons why:

A good review will give you an unbiased look at your plan, highlighting areas where more information is required or gaps in your thinking. This can help ensure that your plan contains everything it needs to, which makes it easier to manage and gives investors confidence in your business.

A business plan is a blueprint for reaching your long-term goals. But a good review will help you see how well your current strategy aligns with those goals and whether there are any holes in the plan. If there are gaps, the reviewer can help you identify what needs to be changed and where resources must be allocated to achieve those goals.

Having someone look over your plan from an objective point of view can help you see potential problems before they become major issues. You might find that something is missing from your strategy or that too many steps are involved in achieving your goals. It could also reveal other important information that will help improve the overall quality of your plan.

Business plans don't just cover what's happened so far — they also forecast what's going to happen next year, six months from now and beyond. So if things change along the way, they may not be reflected in the plan written today. A review can help keep your focus on where you want to go in the future by reviewing your progress each month and adjusting accordingly if needed.

A good consultant will give you constructive feedback about areas where your business plan falls short. This is invaluable when it comes time to revise your plan to more accurately reflect the reality of what's happening in your company, whether due to external factors or internal mistakes. A comprehensive review will also show you where there are holes in your strategy and suggest how they can be filled to strengthen your company's position in its marketplace.

Looking at how your business has performed over time, you can identify areas of concern before they become serious problems.

For example, if sales are declining or profits are shrinking, these trends might be due to temporary factors that can be corrected with better marketing or product development. If sales continue to fall despite these efforts, however, there could be deeper-rooted problems that need addressing.

A good business plan will give you an idea of what your company can accomplish in the short term and over time.

A good business plan also helps potential investors understand what your business is about and why it has the potential for success. This means that if they invest in your company, they can be more confident that they're making a smart choice that will make them money.

• Business Strategy: Planning a company's strategic direction and goals. The business strategy consists of setting a business's vision and mission, identifying its strengths and weaknesses, and evaluating growth opportunities.
• Business Forecast: A business forecast predicts how well the company's revenue and expenses will fare for the next few years. It typically includes financial statements for the current year, estimates for the following year, and projections for two or three subsequent years.
• Bank-Ready Business Plan: A business plan that has been carefully prepared to meet all criteria set by banks when applying for a loan. The bank will want financial projections showing how your business can repay the loan and reasonable evidence that you have identified all costs associated with starting and operating your new business.

Hire the best lawyers for a business plan review through Contracts Counsel where you can find many qualified and vetted lawyers to help you go over your business plan.

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Presently, I am a civil rights and insurance litigation attorney with a focus on representation government entities. Prior to this, I’ve represented some of the largest financial institutions in the world in litigation.

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How to Write a Business Plan, Step by Step

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What is a business plan?

1. write an executive summary, 2. describe your company, 3. state your business goals, 4. describe your products and services, 5. do your market research, 6. outline your marketing and sales plan, 7. perform a business financial analysis, 8. make financial projections, 9. summarize how your company operates, 10. add any additional information to an appendix, business plan tips and resources.

A business plan outlines your business’s financial goals and explains how you’ll achieve them over the next three to five years. Here’s a step-by-step guide to writing a business plan that will offer a strong, detailed road map for your business.

ZenBusiness

A business plan is a document that explains what your business does, how it makes money and who its customers are. Internally, writing a business plan should help you clarify your vision and organize your operations. Externally, you can share it with potential lenders and investors to show them you’re on the right track.

Business plans are living documents; it’s OK for them to change over time. Startups may update their business plans often as they figure out who their customers are and what products and services fit them best. Mature companies might only revisit their business plan every few years. Regardless of your business’s age, brush up this document before you apply for a business loan .

» Need help writing? Learn about the best business plan software .

This is your elevator pitch. It should include a mission statement, a brief description of the products or services your business offers and a broad summary of your financial growth plans.

Though the executive summary is the first thing your investors will read, it can be easier to write it last. That way, you can highlight information you’ve identified while writing other sections that go into more detail.

» MORE: How to write an executive summary in 6 steps

Next up is your company description. This should contain basic information like:

Your business’s registered name.

Address of your business location .

Names of key people in the business. Make sure to highlight unique skills or technical expertise among members of your team.

Your company description should also define your business structure — such as a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation — and include the percent ownership that each owner has and the extent of each owner’s involvement in the company.

Lastly, write a little about the history of your company and the nature of your business now. This prepares the reader to learn about your goals in the next section.

» MORE: How to write a company overview for a business plan

The third part of a business plan is an objective statement. This section spells out what you’d like to accomplish, both in the near term and over the coming years.

If you’re looking for a business loan or outside investment, you can use this section to explain how the financing will help your business grow and how you plan to achieve those growth targets. The key is to provide a clear explanation of the opportunity your business presents to the lender.

For example, if your business is launching a second product line, you might explain how the loan will help your company launch that new product and how much you think sales will increase over the next three years as a result.

» MORE: How to write a successful business plan for a loan

In this section, go into detail about the products or services you offer or plan to offer.

You should include the following:

An explanation of how your product or service works.

The pricing model for your product or service.

The typical customers you serve.

Your supply chain and order fulfillment strategy.

You can also discuss current or pending trademarks and patents associated with your product or service.

Lenders and investors will want to know what sets your product apart from your competition. In your market analysis section , explain who your competitors are. Discuss what they do well, and point out what you can do better. If you’re serving a different or underserved market, explain that.

Here, you can address how you plan to persuade customers to buy your products or services, or how you will develop customer loyalty that will lead to repeat business.

Include details about your sales and distribution strategies, including the costs involved in selling each product .

» MORE: R e a d our complete guide to small business marketing

If you’re a startup, you may not have much information on your business financials yet. However, if you’re an existing business, you’ll want to include income or profit-and-loss statements, a balance sheet that lists your assets and debts, and a cash flow statement that shows how cash comes into and goes out of the company.

Accounting software may be able to generate these reports for you. It may also help you calculate metrics such as:

Net profit margin: the percentage of revenue you keep as net income.

Current ratio: the measurement of your liquidity and ability to repay debts.

Accounts receivable turnover ratio: a measurement of how frequently you collect on receivables per year.

This is a great place to include charts and graphs that make it easy for those reading your plan to understand the financial health of your business.

This is a critical part of your business plan if you’re seeking financing or investors. It outlines how your business will generate enough profit to repay the loan or how you will earn a decent return for investors.

Here, you’ll provide your business’s monthly or quarterly sales, expenses and profit estimates over at least a three-year period — with the future numbers assuming you’ve obtained a new loan.

Accuracy is key, so carefully analyze your past financial statements before giving projections. Your goals may be aggressive, but they should also be realistic.

NerdWallet’s picks for setting up your business finances:

The best business checking accounts .

The best business credit cards .

The best accounting software .

Before the end of your business plan, summarize how your business is structured and outline each team’s responsibilities. This will help your readers understand who performs each of the functions you’ve described above — making and selling your products or services — and how much each of those functions cost.

If any of your employees have exceptional skills, you may want to include their resumes to help explain the competitive advantage they give you.

Finally, attach any supporting information or additional materials that you couldn’t fit in elsewhere. That might include:

Licenses and permits.

Equipment leases.

Bank statements.

Details of your personal and business credit history, if you’re seeking financing.

If the appendix is long, you may want to consider adding a table of contents at the beginning of this section.

How much do you need?

with Fundera by NerdWallet

We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

Here are some tips to write a detailed, convincing business plan:

Avoid over-optimism: If you’re applying for a business bank loan or professional investment, someone will be reading your business plan closely. Providing unreasonable sales estimates can hurt your chances of approval.

Proofread: Spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors can jump off the page and turn off lenders and prospective investors. If writing and editing aren't your strong suit, you may want to hire a professional business plan writer, copy editor or proofreader.

Use free resources: SCORE is a nonprofit association that offers a large network of volunteer business mentors and experts who can help you write or edit your business plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers , which provide free business consulting and help with business plan development, can also be a resource.

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Reviewing your business plan

You should look to update your business plan as your business grows and changes.

On this page

• Why you need a business plan
• The importance of regular business planning
• What your business plan should include
• Allocating resources
• Using targets to implement your business plan
• When to review your business plan
• Additional support

You can consider your business plan as a dynamic template intended to help your business thrive.

As you regularly review your business’ performance against that plan, you’ll also gain insight into the most likely strategies for future growth .

Once you've reviewed your progress and identified the key areas of growth you want to target, it's time to revisit your business plan and make it a road map to the next stage for your business.

Why you need a business plan +

A business plan is a written document that describes your business.

It covers objectives, strategies, sales, marketing and financial forecasts.

A business plan helps you to:

• clarify your business idea
• spot potential problems
• set out your goals
• measure your progress

You’ll need a business plan if you want to secure investment or a loan from a bank or other financial institution.

The importance of regular business planning +

You can give yourself the best possible chances of success by adopting a continuous and regular business planning cycle that keeps the plan up to date.

This should include regular meetings that involve key people from the business.

If you regularly assess your performance against the plans and targets you’ve set, you’re more likely to meet your objectives.

It can also signpost where and why you’re going astray.

Many businesses choose to assess progress every three or six months.

In addition, a regular review can help highlight high-growth areas that you should perhaps be putting more resources into.

The assessment will also help you in discussions with banks, investors and even potential buyers of your business .

Regular review is also a good vehicle for showing direction and commitment to employees, customers, and suppliers.

What your business plan should include +

If your plan is just for internal purposes, your business plan doesn’t need much marketing razzamatazz but should answer basic questions.

• What is the timeframe for my plan?
• What are the specific goals around revenue and profit?
• How do I know if there’s a market for this new product/service?
• What lies behind the sales forecast?
• What are the plans for marketing and selling?
• What investments do I need to make (in staff, premises, equipment, marketing)?
• Will I have enough cash to finance this?
• If not, do I need to borrow or sell equity ?
• How will I pay back any funds I borrow, or return money to investors?
• What are the risks?

The financial section of the plan is likely to include the following information for the period the plan covers (at least a year):

• Profit and loss account
• Cashflow forecast
• Projected balance sheet

Seeking funding or investment

If you intend to present your business plan to a bank or investor , you’ll need some additional frills but you do need to take care.

In his book, 'How to write a great business plan', Harvard Business School Professor William Sahlman explains the problem with most business plans seeking investment: “Most waste too much ink on numbers and devote too little to the information that really matters to intelligent investors.”

While acknowledging that business plans should include some numbers, Sahlman states: “…those numbers should appear mainly in the form of a business model that shows the entrepreneurial team has thought through the key drivers of the venture’s success or failure.”

Instead, he focuses on four factors that are crucial to the success of every new venture. You should look to include these in your business plan.

• The people. Introduce the people running your business, as well as outside people including lawyers, accountants and suppliers. Most savvy investors will focus on people as they believe that execution skills are what matters most. You need to prove you have the skills, experience and network necessary for success.
• The opportunity. Profile the business and discuss what it will sell, to whom and for how much. Explain how fast the business can grow and its competition. Openly discuss strengths and vulnerabilities.
• The context. You need to show you understand the ‘big picture’, the regulatory environment, interest rates, demographic trends, inflation and how you’ll respond when these inevitably change.
• Risk and reward. Assess a wide range of events that can go wrong and right and how you’ll respond to cope or take advantage of it.

Allocating resources +

The business plan plays a key role when you’re allocating resources throughout your business in order to meet the objectives you’ve set.

Once you’ve reviewed your progress to date and identified your strategy for growth, your existing business plan may look dated and may no longer reflect your business’ position and future direction.

When you’re reviewing your business plan to cover the next stages, it’s important to be clear on how you’ll allocate your resources to make your strategy work.

Using targets to implement your business plan +

A useful business plan should incorporate a set of targets and objectives.

While the overall plan may set strategic goals, you’re less likely to achieve them unless you use SMART objectives or targets.

That is, ones that are:

Targets help everyone within a business understand what they need to achieve and when.

It also ensures you monitor progress against these targets.

When to review your business plan +

You should carry out a formal review of your business plan regularly, certainly at least once a year and probably more often.

It all depends on the nature of your business.

Any events that disrupt markets, or have the potential to, should also trigger an emergency review .

Moreover, you need to monitor your business plan to make sure you’re meeting the objectives within it.

Additional support +

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has created this useful guide on how to write a business plan.

Download and complete this free business plan template from The Start Up Loans Company.

Free business plan templates, guides and examples of a completed business plan from GOV.UK.

Regional support

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Reference to any organisation, business and event on this page does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation from the British Business Bank or the UK Government. Whilst we make reasonable efforts to keep the information on this page up to date, we do not guarantee or warrant (implied or otherwise) that it is current, accurate or complete. The information is intended for general information purposes only and does not take into account your personal situation, nor does it constitute legal, financial, tax or other professional advice. You should always consider whether the information is applicable to your particular circumstances and, where appropriate, seek professional or specialist advice or support.

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How to Conduct a Monthly Business Plan Review Meeting

Posted june 21, 2021 by noah parsons.

Most people think that meetings are a waste of time. They’re right.

The fact is, too many meetings are run poorly, have no real objective, and waste employees’ time — which kills productivity.

I absolutely encourage you to be ruthless in your pursuit of fewer and more efficient meetings. There’s tons of advice out there on how to run better meetings and cut down on useless touch bases that waste time and make your organization move slower.

For example, here at Palo Alto Software , we’ve found one meeting that is simply indispensable. It only takes an hour each month, keeps the management team up to speed on everything that’s going on in the company, and helps us plan and manage in a quick and effective way .

This meeting is our monthly plan review meeting. 

What is a plan review meeting?

A monthly review meeting is a time for you and your team to review current progress against your ideal performance. This one-to-two-hour meeting should be spent dissecting parts of your strategy, reviewing financials, and making adjustments based on overall performance. It has been a fixture of our management strategy for years and is simply one of the most effective ways for us to continue to grow the company and adjust our course as necessary.

For us, business planning isn’t just a one-time or annual event. Instead, it’s an ongoing process where we are constantly reviewing and adjusting course as necessary while ensuring that we’re staying on track toward our larger goals .

Why is it important to conduct a monthly plan review?

Every business of any size can benefit from a calculated time to stop, review and revise. When done correctly, this meeting can help you focus on what’s vital for your company, identify what data you need to accurately measure it and how to best present and review these results. Additionally, your monthly plan review process can help your business in the following ways.

Commits your business to learn and act

It can become very easy to let operations and processes become stagnant and standard. Without a regular performance review, any potential problems may remain to fester well beyond when they are first identified. You don’t want to waste company time and resources on things that are ineffective, but it’s difficult to change course without first processing it.

By setting aside this monthly time, it provides the opportunity to commit to learning and adjusting anything and everything. This isn’t based on off-hand information but on solid information and data that helps you identify and evaluate what’s most important for your business. 

Engages individuals across your entire business

Depending on how you present this meeting, it has the potential to pull in greater insight from across your business. Whether you’re sharing information company-wide or sticking with select leaders from each department, it immediately expands the scope of expertise. 

The more that every leader and employee knows what’s going on with everyone else, the better you can align and produce effective goals . It also provides the opportunity to identify potential solutions or issues from outside your core team’s responsibilities. Maybe your product team sees a potential gap in your marketing messaging. Or someone in HR sees a potential work/life balance misalignment in the sales team. None of this would come to life without a core review meeting like this.

Influences better business conversations

Engaging more people across your business and providing more detailed information typically leads to more fruitful conversations outside the core meeting. Yes, the meeting itself is vital for actively reviewing and adjusting your strategy at the moment. However, this information being top of mind means that potential issues or innovations will be dealt with outside of the planning meeting. This is due to your employees having a clear direction to reference in the day-to-day. They know the strategy and data are up-to-date and that it serves as a north star for their own projects and initiatives.

How to run an effective monthly plan review meeting

We treat planning not as a document, but as a management tool that helps guide decisions and strategy. It’s this mindset that helps our team run these monthly meetings successfully. We have a strategy in place, steps to walk through and key objectives we expect to find.

Here’s a quick overview of how we structure our monthly plan review meetings and what’s worked well for us over the years. 

1. Review your financial statements

We always start with the numbers first . How did we do last month compared to our forecast ? How did we do compared to the same month last year? What does our year-to-date performance look like?

What financial statements to review

Ideally, you’ll have the opportunity to review all relevant monthly financial statements. At a minimum, you should review your Profit and Loss Statement , Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement . These will provide a high-level overview of your financial position and help identify any obvious anomalies. If possible, it’s valuable to look at these all together through a business dashboard , that way you can immediately start making connections.

With that top-level exploration in mind, you can then start looking into your budget, financial forecast scenarios, and any specific elements that may seem relevant. This may include things like your expense categories, accounts receivable/payable payment schedules, etc. 

Look beyond top-line performance

We always spend time drilling into the numbers, beyond the top-line revenue and expenses to better understand what the drivers were behind our performance. Did all product lines perform well? Or did some underperform? Did we spend as planned or were there some areas that we overspent in?

Most importantly, we review our cash position and cash flow . Did we collect money as planned? What does our cash flow forecast look like for the next few months?

There are benefits to looking at financials together

While financial reports can be reviewed outside of a meeting, reviewing them together as a team encourages questions and discussion around our revenue and spending. It also helps you uncover specific issues or opportunities that you may miss on your own. And of course, gives everyone a voice to determine the next steps for the company as well as their specific teams.

Of course, we use LivePlan to review our numbers because it’s much easier than drilling through exported reports from QuickBooks . But if you’re not ready to make that jump, you can always start out with a simple cash flow template in Excel.

2. Reevaluate your milestones

Once we review our financial performance, we review our “ major milestones ”—the big tasks we had hoped to get done in the past month and our plans for the next month.

We discuss how various teams might be working with each other on different projects and talk about the specific milestones that we have planned. Are these still the tactics that we want to work on that will help achieve our goals? Do we need to shift priorities? Is there new learning and information that would have us change our schedule?

By reviewing major initiatives on a monthly basis, we can stay agile and make changes as needed. That’s also why we review them after parsing through our financials, to determine if our current milestones should still be a priority. As we learn more about our customers and our market , we might shift strategies and develop new milestones .

3. Review your long-term goals and strategy

Next, we review our long-term strategic goals. While this doesn’t change too often in our situation as an established company, new startups might shift their strategy frequently as they search for a business model that works.

For those early-stage startups, this step of the meeting may be the most important step and often takes the longest. For more established companies, this part of the meeting might typically only take a few minutes. This is where having a brief and functional business plan can really help speed up the process.

Instead of delving deep into a 40-page business plan document to review our strategy, we review our our one-page business plan (in LivePlan, it’s called the Pitch ). It covers our company identity, the core problem we solve for our customers, our solution, competition , and sales and marketing strategy . It’s all on one page so it’s easy to read, review, and change quickly .

4. Provide time to discuss any company issues

Finally, anyone on the team can bring forward any issues that they want to discuss. This could include new opportunities to consider, prioritization of product features, potential partnerships, or internal HR issues.

Everything is fair game and we try to come up with resolutions and next steps for any issue that’s brought up.

We’ve found that this type of open-ended discussion really helps generate new ideas and brings different perspectives from managers of different teams.

5. Set meeting guidelines

I believe that all companies would benefit from a monthly review of their business. These types of meetings keep everyone on the same page, help share information about progress, and turn planning into a tool that helps teams make informed decisions. 

But in order to run these monthly meetings successfully, you’ll need to do some preliminary work to keep you and your team on track. Here are three tips to successfully establish your monthly business plan review.

Put the meeting on the calendar

It’s important to make it a formal event that’s on the schedule. It can’t be optional and it has to be at a regular time so that everyone always knows when the meeting is.

For us, we started out with the meeting on the 3rd Thursday of every month. As our bookkeeping and accounting processes have become more efficient, we’ve been able to move our meeting to the 2nd Friday of the month.

Follow a repeatable agenda

While different topics will come up for discussion, it’s important that your plan review meeting has a repeatable agenda. Not only does it provide structure, but it gives your team specific action items to review beforehand.

That means making sure that you have your numbers ready for review and that your team has updates on their goals. Try to set time limits for each section if you can, and overestimate the length of the meeting with the full intention of finishing earlier than planned. This part will be a continuous work in progress and you and your team will gradually improve your efficiency with each subsequent meeting.

Be prepared to change the plan

These plan review meetings aren’t just about staying the course and blindly following the plan. Instead, they are about adjusting the plan. Perhaps you’ll discover that you should be investing more in marketing, or that you’re going to be able to expand and hire faster than you originally planned.

The plan review meeting is about making adjustments to your goals and strategies based on what you’ve discovered in the past month.

Use your monthly plan review to redefine how you do meetings

Keep in mind that running your meetings more successfully won’t just happen overnight. It takes time to develop a structure that works best for you and your team. As I outlined in this article, the best place to start your meeting restructure is with your monthly plan review meeting.

It’s a necessary review that can be consistently repeated, refined, and adjusted, which makes it the perfect testing ground for a new system. 

Editors’ Note: This article was originally written in 2018 and updated for 2021.

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Noah Parsons

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How to Write a Great Business Plan

Every seasoned investor knows that detailed financial projections for a new company are an act of imagination. Nevertheless, most business plans pour far too much ink on the numbers—and far too little on the information that really matters. Why?

In an article in the Harvard Business Review , HBS Professor William Sahlman suggests that a great business plan is one that focuses on a series of questions. These questions relate to the four factors critical to the success of every new venture: the people, the opportunity, the context, and the possibilities for both risk and reward.

The questions about people revolve around three issues: What do they know? Whom do they know? and How well are they known? As for opportunity, the plan should focus on two questions: Is the market for the venture's product or service large or rapidly growing (or preferably both)? and Is the industry structurally attractive?

Then, in addition to demonstrating an understanding of the context in which their venture will operate, entrepreneurs should make clear how they will respond when that context inevitably changes. Finally, the plan should look unflinchingly at the risks the new venture faces, giving would-be backers a realistic idea of what magnitude of reward they can expect and when they can expect it.

A great business plan is not easy to compose, Sahlman acknowledges, largely because most entrepreneurs are wild-eyed optimists. But one that asks the right questions is a powerful tool. A better deal, not to mention a better shot at success, awaits entrepreneurs who use it.

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Clockify Review 2024 (Pricing, Pros and Cons)

Kara is an editor from North Carolina with experience in business technology and services topics as well as health. She is dedicated to delivering clear and captivating content to readers who want to make well-informed choices. Throughout her career, Kara has collaborated with and advised many small businesses in diverse marketing roles. Such experiences offer her a distinct viewpoint on how appropriate technology and services can drive growth for entrepreneurs. Kara’s writing has appeared on Verywellfamily.com, Labroots.com, and SkinnyMs.com.

Time-tracking software is essential for busy teams and freelancers juggling multiple clients. Staying efficient and organized can make all the difference for small and medium-sized businesses, and plenty of software options are available to help keep time tracking simple. 

Clockify is known for its free time-tracking software, offering many additional features through various paid plans. With its forever-free plan and multiple upgrade options, Clockify could be a smart move for small business owners. But there are several factors to keep in mind when shopping around for a time-keeping solution. 

This review will cover Clockify’s standout features, how it stacks up against similar software options, pricing and the major pros and cons. Read on to find out what you should know if you’re considering Clockify’s free or paid plans for your business. 

• Our Top Pick for Time Tracking
• Monthly cost: Free – $15/user
• Plan options: 5
• Forever-Free Plan
• Unlimited Tracking and Users
• Simple and Easy-To-Use Interface

Can’t Automate All Features

• Not All Integrations Are Included
• Separate Pricing for the Kiosk Feature

Why We Chose Clockify

Clockify offers a forever free plan that gives business owners access to time-tracking software at no cost. The four paid plans offer extensive features like automated time logging, timesheet approval, offline time tracking and custom permissions. Each plan offers different feature packages based on the needs and size of your business, offering more variety than other time-tracking software options. 

Depending on what devices you use, Clockify is easy to include in your day-to-day workflow. It’s available as a desktop app for Mac and Windows devices, a mobile app for Android and iOS and a browser extension. 

Clockify earns the title of Best Overall for its emphasis on time tracking features that go beyond timesheets and manual time tracking. The free plan offers more time tracking capabilities than other software options may include with paid plans, with a simple interface that’s easy for small businesses to adopt. 

What Is Clockify?

Clockify is a free online time-tracking software. It’s designed to help businesses keep track of timesheets and manage work hours digitally. Clockify has four paid plans, but the free version offers unlimited time tracking for unlimited users. The time tracker allows employees and business owners to start and stop their time clock to keep track of hours worked. 

You can also set up timesheets and the Clockify kiosk, which establishes a shared place for employees to clock in and out. Additional features include a calendar, Pomodoro timer and robust reporting and management options. Clockify also offers integrations with over 80 web apps, including Google Calendar and Outlook, as well as project management software like Asana, Jira and Trello. 

Clockify is best suited for small business owners, freelancers and side hustlers with smaller budgets. Essentially, it’s worth considering for any business owner looking to simplify time tracking without dropping a ton of money on a new software solution. 

How Much Does Clockify Cost?

Clockify’s free plan covers the basics for timekeeping, with a timer and timesheet functionality. There’s no free trial. The free plan is available for an unlimited period of time for unlimited users. However, upgraded paid plans may be necessary for your business if you need additional features. 

Clockify Free Plan

Clockify’s forever free plan offers many useful features, with no limits to the number of projects tracked or the number of people that can use the software. Clockify’s auto tracker can help automate the process, and the convenient app makes it easy to access on mobile devices. Major reporting features and project settings are available for free, in addition to integrations with dozens of other software and apps. Businesses switching from other time-tracking software can import projects from a file, and all projects can be exported as .CSV files as needed. 

While the free plan offers a robust set of time-tracking features, it’s limited compared to the paid plans. A major consideration is that the free plan offers only one workspace. Businesses with multiple teams and projects may need to upgrade to a paid plan to keep time tracking organized. In addition, Clockify’s free version doesn’t allow for break tracking and timesheet approvals. It’s also missing some of the more personalized features, like report customization and custom fields for timesheets. You’ll also need to upgrade to a paid plan to run time audits and access certain integrations like Quickbooks.

Clockify Paid Plans

Clockify offers four paid plans with extra timekeeping features. The Basic, Standard, Pro and Enterprise plans offer different levels of features depending on business needs. 

Clockify Basic 

The Basic plan includes all of Clockify’s free features but allows business owners and team leaders more flexibility in implementing timekeeping in their day-to-day. You can track time on behalf of team members, control who sees what within the Clockify interface, bulk edit time entries and run time audits. The Basic Plan is also required for businesses interested in using the Clockify kiosk to clock in and out. 

These extra features make sense for businesses that need more than just the simplest level of time-tracking functionality without sacrificing price. As the least expensive of the four paid plans, Clockify Basic is budget-friendly while still offering helpful tools for business owners. 

Clockify Standard

The Clockify Standard plan offers all the features available in Clockify’s free and Basic plans in addition to extra workforce management features. These include logging employee time off, invoicing and formal timesheet approval. The Standard plan also allows business owners to set task rates, calculating cost per hour differently based on the type of work that’s being tracked. The Standard plan is required to access Quickbooks integration. 

This plan is a good fit for freelancers who might find the invoicing feature particularly convenient. Additionally, businesses that handle different types of requests from clients could benefit from easily setting different task rates. 

Clockify Pro

Clockify Pro offers additional productivity features, particularly when it comes to reporting. Pro comes with scheduling and forecasting tools to allow you to make the most of reports, timesheets and the Clockify calendar. 

The Pro plan is also notable for its budget and cost-related tools, with more functionality around labor cost, expenses and profit for each project. You can also define different currencies for clients, which is ideal for businesses that may do business internationally. You can also choose your data region, with Clockify offering storage in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Australia. 

Businesses with greater reporting needs may find that the Pro plan makes the most sense. Additionally, the calendar feature can be massively helpful if your team is looking for simple planning and forecasting. 

Clockify Enterprise

The Enterprise plan offers advanced security features for small and medium-sized businesses and all other features offered in the other Clockify plans. This includes single sign-on (SSO) capabilities, as well as custom subdomains and an audit log. 

As the most robust of Clockify’s offerings, the Enterprise plan is best for business owners with larger teams or those who require more security features like data encryption and change logs. This plan is also the most expensive of the four, and the price may be less competitive if your business is interested in adding on the clock-in/clock-out kiosk service, which is billed separately. 

Clockify Pros and Cons

Forever-free plan .

Clockify’s free plan offers all its basic features without limits to how long you can use the software. This is a great cost-effective option for a simple time-tracking solution, with the option to upgrade only if you feel your business needs more advanced features. 

The free plan makes it possible to test drive the software to help business owners understand their time-tracking needs. In addition, the variety of API integrations makes it easy to move your Clockify data as needed if you decide on a new plan later down the line. 

Unlimited Tracking and Users 

With no limits to the number of users and projects you can add to your workspace, Clockify is a great option for teams of any size. Users do not have to pay per person to access the essential time-tracking features that Clockify is most known for. Larger teams can still track time without limits, and it’s easy to break up time track by project to get quick breakdowns and overviews of hours and schedules. 

Simple and Easy-To-Use Interface 

Clockify offers simple time-tracking features in a clean interface without the distraction of other features for workforce management or project management that some businesses may find unnecessary. With a focus on keeping time tracking simple, Clockify is easy to implement into a team’s day-to-day process and workflow. While this may mean that Clockify doesn’t include every advanced feature a business may need (especially in the free plan), the software does offer easy API integration with over 80 web apps, as well as Google Calendar and Outlook. 

While users typically find the auto-tracking feature helpful, there are many other tasks within Clockify that require manual oversight, particularly in the free and Basic plan. Clockify is best for users who aren’t looking for a fully automated solution and prefer the ability to manually lock, approve and edit timesheets with customizable permissions and other settings. Either way, most options for editing or automating tracking are only available in paid plans. 

Not All Integrations Are Included 

While Clockify’s free plan offers easy API integration with various web apps, Quickbooks integration is only offered through the Standard, Pro and Enterprise plans. If Quickbooks is essential to your business’s day-to-day, it’s worth considering if a paid Clockify plan makes sense. 

Separate Pricing for the Kiosk Feature 

Businesses interested in adopting Clockify’s kiosk feature for clocking in and out will find that the separate add-on pricing can add up. The kiosk feature starts at just $0.99 per user per month for the Basic plan but rises to $2.99 per user per month for the Enterprise plan (on top of the monthly cost per user for each option). For smaller teams, the additional cost may be worth it for the ease and convenience of tracking time in physical locations on a shared device, but for larger teams, there may be more cost-effective or all-inclusive options to consider. 

Clockify Features

Time tracking .

Clockify offers a simple-to-use timer to track hours logged for different projects. The one-click timer makes it easy to manually track time as you work and then categorize or edit within Clockify. The auto tracker also makes it easy to log time and billable hours, automatically recording the amount of time you spend using different apps and providing a quick summary. You can easily create timesheet entries from this logged activity. This tracked activity is only visible to you; the idle detection feature can stop the timer. This helps users avoid accidentally tracking time spent away from their computer or not at work. 

Offline tracking ensures you can still track your time even if you aren’t connected to the internet, and will easily sync once you’re back online. An added bonus to both the free and paid versions of Clockify is the Pomodoro timer, which can help you stay focused with a timer that cycles through timed work sprints followed by breaks. Additionally, employees can easily track break times with Break Mode, which is available in all paid Clockify plans. 

Clockify’s timesheet functionality offers a basic overview of hours tracked for a particular project. You can add activities and details to logged time as you add to the timesheet. It’s also possible to copy previous timesheets and quickly create new sheets from templates. Anyone can add to timesheets using the free version; timesheet approval is available for paid versions. 

While the free plan makes sense for basic timesheet needs, Clockify’s paid plans are necessary for most timesheet functionality. Business owners can take advantage of extra features like locking timesheets or email alerts if an employee logs too much or too little time over a given week. At a minimum, the Basic plan is required for users to approve timesheets every week officially. The Enterprise plan will give you access to an audit trail, making it simple to record any and all edits your team makes within timesheets.

Clock In/Out

Clockify’s kiosk feature is an add-on designed to help with time tracking for businesses with physical offices or storefront locations. Employees can clock in and out on shared devices using a PIN to track time and attendance. This time and attendance data will sync with Clockify, which means employers have one central place to see all clock-in/clock-out information. This can be particularly useful for small businesses with hourly employees or multiple physical locations.

Kiosk data can be categorized by different locations, teams and other groupings to help business owners get high-level views of hours and shift information. This can help with scheduling and budgeting for labor costs. 

The kiosk feature has separate pricing for all Clockify plans based on the number of users. For teams wanting to clock in and out of a single kiosk device, pricing is currently: 

• Basic: $0.99 per kiosk user/month
• Standard: $1.49 per kiosk user/month
• Pro: $1.99 per kiosk user/month
• Enterprise: $2.99 per kiosk user/month

The Clockify calendar offers an easy-to-scan overview of time and projects. The user interface is simple. It compares planned time and actual tracked time and can easily integrate with Google Calendar and Outlook. You can view every day in a time-blocked format, which can be broken down into increments as small as 5 minutes. Each workday is included in a week-by-week view. 

Business owners can add projects and track time directly in the calendar view and get an overview of what each team member works on daily. Paid versions of the plan also allow for vacation and time-off tracking within the calendar. The mobile calendar within the Clockify mobile app can also be an easy way to see your schedule at a glance, and the app is available on both Android and iOS devices. 

You can track time for multiple specific projects within Clockify, organizing them within the dashboard. Projects can be broken down by task so that time can be recorded on a task-by-task basis and divided between employees. Business owners can monitor a project’s status and track billable and non-billable hours. Each project allows teams to set time and cost estimates. Users can also set alerts when teams reach certain milestones or thresholds.

All Clockify plans offer unlimited projects, so there’s no limit to the amount of projects you can create and track within the interface. These project features can be especially helpful for businesses looking to visualize progress and forecast time and costs for future projects. 

While Clockify is not a project management tool, it’s an easy way to track time for specific projects that your team is working on rather than overall hours. 

Clockify offers robust reporting capabilities that allow you to export time-tracking reports, project reports and user reports. With paid plans, business owners can create tags to group time entries and create reports based on those custom categories. It’s easy to create charts and summaries within Clockify’s interface, and data can be exported into files for easy sharing or uploading to other software. 

Business owners can also compare real-tracked time to project estimates and monitor earnings, costs and profits with easy-to-scan breakdowns within Clockify’s dashboard. Bulk editing and time audits are available in paid plans. Tracked time and reports can be sent directly to QuickBooks with paid versions as well. QuickBooks is the only API integration that isn’t included in the free plan offering.

Clockify Customer Service

Clockify has a variety of customer service options. You can contact customer support via phone, email or chat. Users can reach the customer service line 24 hours a day on weekdays, with partial availability on Saturdays and Sundays. Live chat is available 24/7, and customers can either email Clockify directly or submit a message through their email form to hear back from the customer support team. Between these three customer service channels, Clockify has customer service coverage 24/7, including holidays.

Clockify Alternatives

Many time tracking software offerings have a forever-free plan or offer similar features to Clockify. Time Camp and Sling Scheduling are two popular software offerings that business owners consider for timekeeping help, with added functionality for workforce management and scheduling. 

Clockify vs Time Camp

Time Camp is similar to Clockify in its time-tracking features but offers more extensive project management features as well. Both options have a forever-free plan and paid plan options. Time Camp’s free plan offers unlimited tracking for unlimited users, but unlimited tasks (similar to Clockify’s projects) are only available in the paid Starter plan. The Starter plan includes billing features like attendance, overtime and invoicing. 

The main difference between Clockify and Time Camp is how their features are broken up within their plans. Businesses looking for simple time tracking might find that Clockify’s offerings are enough. Time Camp is worth considering for those searching for more project management capabilities. Time Camp’s Ultimate plan is their most extensive offer and is currently cheaper than Clockify’s all-encompassing Enterprise plan. 

Clockify vs. Sling Scheduling

Clockify is mainly geared toward time tracking and reporting, while Sling Scheduling’s main features are focused on employee scheduling and workforce management. Sling can track time and attendance, but what sets it apart is its communication features. Employees can set their availability and swap shifts once schedules are set. 

The primary difference between Clockify and Sling Scheduling is that Sling only offers time-tracking features in its paid plans. Clockify offers the same time tracking features for free but doesn’t have the same scheduling capabilities as Sling included in the free plan. Businesses can use Clockify’s calendar for time-off requests and logging vacation time, but Sling offers more in-depth scheduling communication in its interface. Sling has only two paid plan options, but they cost less per user compared to any four of Clockify’s paid plans. 

Bottom Line

Clockify makes sense for small businesses, freelancers and side hustlers looking to make the most of smaller budgets. Clockify’s free plan covers a lot of time-tracking functions without the need to commit to a paid plan. Rather than offering a free trial, the unlimited free version also  makes it possible for businesses to understand their time-tracking needs over longer periods of time. This can be immensely helpful for tracking billable hours for different projects and also managing time for your whole team. 

While Clockify may not have the same scheduling, workforce management or project management capabilities as other options, it’s a simple, easy-to-use time-tracking software. Depending on your specific business needs, upgrading to a paid plan might be necessary to get all that you need from Clockify’s offerings. In addition, businesses with physical office locations or brick-and-mortar stores will need to pay for a kiosk add-on if they’re interested in the clock-in/clock-out kiosk features. 

Overall, Clockify is worth considering if you’re trying to stretch a small budget (or have no budget) but still want to streamline your timekeeping week to week

Does Clockify work?

Clockify is a popular free time tracking tool that works for businesses looking for a cost-efficient way to simplify time tracking and other business needs. As a free software option, it works for tracking billable hours, maintaining timesheets, creating reports and managing employee’s time. 

Is Clockify worth paying for?

Clockify’s free plan offers a ton of helpful time-tracking features, but some small and medium-sized businesses may find that the paid plans find the advanced features helpful for more than just simple time timesheets. 

Is Clockify easy to use?

Clockify has one of the simplest time-tracking software options available. Its simple-to-use interface can help business owners easily keep track of hours and timesheets. Clockify also offers convenient mobile apps for iOS and Android, so you can keep track of time across devices. 

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Alex Jones Estate Liquidation Gets Sandy Hook Families’ Vote

By Alex Wolf

The families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims voted overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to wrap up Alex Jones’ bankruptcy proceedings by liquidating the right wing talk show host’s assets.

Jones’ general unsecured creditors—comprised mostly of Sandy Hook families holding about $1.5 billion in defamation judgments against the famed conspiracy theorist—voted 100% in favor of a Chapter 11 plan that would methodically liquidate and redistribute his property and cash, while preserving potential legal actions against parties affiliated with Jones and his Infowars program.

An official committee appointed to represent Jones’ unsecured creditors notified the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Feb. 16 that of 23 liquidation plan ballots distributed to creditors, it received 21 back—all supporting the committee’s liquidation proposal .

The vote indicates the creditors’ preference over a competing plan submitted by Jones that would allow him to reorganize by preserving parts of his media empire and paying the group at least $5.5 million a year over 10 years. His plan would provide additional creditor recoveries out of disposable income from Jones’ bankrupt Infowars parent company, portions of Jones’ personal income, and the proceeds from selling various personal assets.

No ballot tabulation for Jones’ plan has been submitted to the court yet.

The parties are scheduled to hold plan approval hearing in late March.

Jones filed for Chapter 11 protection in December 2022, after being hit with state court judgments for repeatedly calling the 2012 massacre of elementary school students and teachers a hoax. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez ruled last year that Jones can’t discharge the defamation awards because those debts stemmed from intentional and malicious conduct.

Jones is represented by Crowe & Dunlevy PC and Jordan & Ortiz PC.

The creditors’ committee is represented by Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

The case is In re Alexander E. Jones , Bankr. S.D. Tex., No. 22-33553, notice filed 2/16/24.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Wolf in New York at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maria Chutchian at [email protected]

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More climate experts object to emissions target watchdog's offsets policy

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• Group of technical advisers write to trustees
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• Science Based Targets initiative facing staff revolt

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Simon leads a team tracking how the financial system and companies more broadly are responding to the challenges posed by climate change, nature loss and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues including diversity and inclusion.

Johnson Controls said on Friday its subsidiary Tyco Fire Products had agreed to a $750 million settlement with some U.S. public water systems that claimed toxic "forever chemicals" in firefighting foam made by the company had contaminated their water supplies.

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U.S. Steel shareholders approve $14.9 bln buyout by Nippon Steel

U.S. Steel shareholders on Friday approved its proposed $14.9 billion acquisition by Japan's Nippon Steel , taking the merger one step closer to completion even as political opposition to the deal mounts.

Amazon CEO says AI may be the biggest tech transformation 'since the internet' in his annual letter

• Amazon's CEO said AI may be the largest transformation since the internet in a shareholder letter.
• Andy Jassy also raised the importance of AI security to protect customer data.
• The CEO also said Amazon is "not done lowering our cost to serve."

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy released his annual letter to shareholders on Thursday — and yes, AI was a major theme.

Jassy said in the letter that generative AI "may be the largest technology transformation since the cloud," and maybe even "since the internet."

Rather than move existing infrastructure to the cloud, which requires a lot of migration work, the AI revolution will be built entirely on cloud platforms from the beginning, Jassy said.

"The amount of societal and business benefit from the solutions that will be possible will astound us all," Jassy said in the letter.

But Jassy also reminded shareholders not to underestimate the importance of security in AI.

"Customers' AI models contain some of their most sensitive data," Jassy said.

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Jassy also said Amazon is on track to launch Project Kuiper internet satellites later this year and he's encouraged by the progress, although it still has a long way to go. The $10 billion project is projected to create a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites within the next six years.

Amazon's CEO said the company focuses on its AI efforts with a three-layered approach: building foundational models, leveraging existing ones, and utilizing pre-built gen AI applications depending on their needs and expertise.

At the core of staying successful and resilient, Jassy said the company relies on its five key principles, which include hiring builders who push boundaries, focusing on customer problems, and building foundational tools to accelerate innovation.

It also includes embracing better tech, regardless of where it came from, and learning from failures.

Amazon's CEO also said the company is continuing to reevaluate cost-cutting while delivering products faster for customers.

"As we look toward 2024 (and beyond), we're not done lowering our cost to serve ," Jassy wrote. "We've challenged every closely held belief in our fulfillment network, and reevaluated every part of it, and found several areas where we believe we can lower costs even further while also delivering faster for customers."

Amazon announced earlier in April it would be laying off hundreds of workers in its cloud division , AWS.

"There has never been a time in Amazon's history where we've felt there is so much opportunity to make our customers' lives better and easier," Jassy said in closing.

You can read Jassy's full letter to shareholders here.

Watch: AI will drive personalization, not creativity, says Roku's VP of growth marketing, Sweta Patel

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How to Write a Winning Business Plan

• Stanley R. Rich
• David E. Gumpert

The business plan admits the entrepreneur to the investment process. Without a plan furnished in advance, many investor groups won’t even grant an interview. And the plan must be outstanding if it is to win investment funds. Too many entrepreneurs, though, continue to believe that if they build a better mousetrap, the world will beat […]

The Idea in Brief

You’ve got a great idea for a new product or service—how can you persuade investors to support it? Flashy PowerPoint slides aren’t enough; you need a winning business plan. A compelling plan accurately reflects the viewpoints of your three key constituencies: the market , potential investors , and the producer (the entrepreneur or inventor of the new offering).

But too many plans are written solely from the perspective of the producer. The problem is that, unless you’ve got your own capital to finance your venture, the only way you’ll get the funding you need is to satisfy the market’s and investors’ needs.

Here’s how to grab their attention.

The Idea in Practice

Emphasize Market Needs

To make a convincing case that a substantial market exists, establish market interest and document your claims.

Establish market interest. Provide evidence that customers are intrigued by your claims about the benefits of the new product or service:

• Let some customers use a product prototype; then get written evaluations.
• Offer the product to a few potential customers at a deep discount if they pay part of the production cost. This lets you determine whether potential buyers even exist.
• Use “reference installations”—statements from initial users, sales reps, distributors, and would-be customers who have seen the product demonstrated.

Document your claims. You’ve established market interest. Now use data to support your assertions about potential growth rates of sales and profits.

• Specify the number of potential customers, the size of their businesses, and the size that is most appropriate to your offering. Remember: Bigger isn’t necessarily better; e.g., saving $10,000 per year in chemical use may mean a lot to a modest company but not to a Du Pont.
• Show the nature of the industry; e.g., franchised weight-loss clinics might grow fast, but they can decline rapidly when competition stiffens. State how you will continually innovate to survive.
• Project realistic growth rates at which customers will accept—and buy—your offering. From there, assemble a credible sales plan and project plant and staffing needs.

Address Investor Needs

Cashing out. Show when and how investors may liquidate their holdings. Venture capital firms usually want to cash out in three to seven years; professional investors look for a large capital appreciation.

Making sound projections. Give realistic, five-year forecasts of profitability. Don’t skimp on the numbers, get overly optimistic about them, or blanket your plan with a smog of figures covering every possible variation.

The price. To figure out how much to invest in your offering, investors calculate your company’s value on the basis of results expected five years after they invest. They’ll want a 35 to 40% return for mature companies—up to 60% for less mature ventures. To make a convincing case for a rich return, get a product in the hands of representative customers—and demonstrate substantial market interest.

A comprehensive, carefully thought-out business plan is essential to the success of entrepreneurs and corporate managers. Whether you are starting up a new business, seeking additional capital for existing product lines, or proposing a new activity in a corporate division, you will never face a more challenging writing assignment than the preparation of a business plan.

• SR Mr. Rich has helped found seven technologically based businesses, the most recent being Advanced Energy Dynamics Inc. of Natick, Massachusetts. He is also a cofounder and has been chairman of the MIT Enterprise forum, which assists emerging growth companies.
• DG Mr. Gumpert is an associate editor of HBR, where he specializes in small business and marketing. He has written several HBR articles, the most recent of which was “The Heart of Entrepreneurship,” coauthored by Howard. H. Stevenson (March–April 1985). This article is adapted from Business Plans That Win $$$ : Lessons from the MIT Enterprise Forum, by Messrs. Rich and Gumpert (Harper & Row, 1985). The authors are also founders of Venture Resource Associates of Grantham, New Hampshire, which provides planning and strategic services to growing enterprises.

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