Have you ever worked to solve a puzzle in a book of mazes? Some can be pretty tough, seemingly impossible. Here is a hint that will make them easier to solve. Don’t start at the beginning. Go to the end point and work your way back. Try it. It works.

What, you ask, does this have to do with business? Actually, a great deal. Have you ever developed a business plan? Have you prepared the financial details to flesh out the beginning of a new business or continue the prosperity of an existing company? If so, and I hope you do prepare such a plan each year, how do you go about it? If you’re like most, you lay out goals, expectations or desires for the next year, perhaps two or three years if you’re starting a business from scratch. The beginning is typically translated in terms of sales – what sales level do we want to reach during the next 12 months? More often than not, gross profit and expenses are filled in by rote – they will increase by 3 percent or will be the same percentage of sales as last year or, more unbelievably, will be the same as last year. Little thought is given to how the desired sales level will be achieved or if it is even possible with present resources and the state of the market. Think of this approach as starting at the beginning. It is generally a very difficult and complex process and often does not work very well.

Is there a better way? Stephen R. Covey gave us a hint when he wrote The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People in 1989. This business and self-help book sold 40 million copies in hard cover and audio versions. Covey urges beginning with the image of the end of our life in mind as the frame of reference by which everything is measured. Stated another way, where do you want to go, and what do you want to do with your life? How does your business connect, or how should it connect, with your life? If these questions raise important concerns to you and you wish to address them, you have no choice but to begin at the end. From there, work back to where you are today. The end point is what you really want from your life.

Chuck Richards of CoreValue Software tells of the day he sat in a graduate-level math class at MIT where the professor proved the only way to solve difficult problems is to start with the objective and work backwards. He says it is the most important lesson he learned at MIT.

I suspect you will readily agree that all this makes sense, but is it really a practical way to proceed? My experience has been that it is easier to assess the likelihood of a plan working if the end goal is clearly defined first. Critically analyze each step backward to move the organization toward the end goal. Perhaps the reason beginning with the end in mind works is because it emphasizes thinking through every step. It’s easy to say we want to increase sales 10 percent. It’s more difficult to state specifically how it can be done.

Do you want your business to serve your life rather than the other way around? The best way to do that is to start at the end. Define success and move backward to today.

Bowser@BusinessValueInsights.com. Dan Bowser is president of Value Insights Inc. of Durango, Chandler, Ariz., and Summerville, Pa.