The last couple of weeks have seen much writing and polishing of a business plan for a small-ish client company (small but, nonetheless, going places) that is currently applying for capital financing. 

This is the usual inspiration for creating a business plan, but it is best done when there is NOT a deadline breathing down your neck. If you do not yet have a business plan, think about writing one. If you haven't updated it (or even referred to it recently), dust it off and read through it.

A business plan is a great way of checking how you're doing. Every business plan will enumerate a range of goals for your enterprise. Are you meeting those goals? Why or why not? Taking the time to honestly assess your results against the benchmarks that you established can help you better understand where you stand and where you are going. 

A bonus associated with keeping your business plan current: the majority of content in your business plan can, with small amounts of editing, also fill out large portions of an RFP response that is the tool to win yourself MORE and NEW business [or, grant proposal for more and new .