Here comes 2010

September, as ever, brings the start of the business planning process for the year ahead. Much as I enjoy the continual to-ing and fro-ing of a busy office, sometimes there's nothing better than a long early morning run, a strong coffee, a blocked out diary and a blank excel spreadsheet to work with. In case you're wondering (!), we start with some trend-based forecasting at group level, and then compare this with detail from each of our regions and business strands.
As we grow, our planning has become more rigorous, and planning for 2010 is a good test. The devil is definitely in the detail - exchange rates, property interest rates and so on are increasingly critical parts of our jigsaw, and yet tougher than ever to predict. Even my currency trading friends in the City don't have a clue which way things are moving. Gut feel and instinct have a place in planning even in the FTSE.

Actually this year of all years there is not a single cost line that does not have an interesting question sitting behind it. Take IT. Will it really be 2010 when we'll really be able to halve our IT costs by binning the laptops and phones to move over to one device? When will we need to move to the 'cloud'? Like all businesses our size, we're increasingly aware of the balance sheet as well as the P&L this year. The principle is to remain cautious, while also setting Lane4 up for the next six years. Opportunities, not threats.

Given this, of course the spreadsheets are only part of the planning process. There will be decisions to make in the next few months where gut feel will be worth as much if not more than a theoretical spreadsheet answer. Lane4 is a 'heart' as well as 'head' business - our job is to marry the two.