I’m about to say something extremely controversial, which may go against every business guru’s advice, but here goes: you know when you’re told to create a business plan? Well, my best advice is… don’t.
Don’t feel compelled to write up a long detailed business plan that is designed for a third party like an investor, a plan that typically has no flexibility and simply ends up on a shelf.
(Don’t make your business plan like the Great Wall of China. It’s pretty, but has no flexibility)
When you say “plan,” it gives the idea that this is something that one needs to stick with, and it becomes sort of a big animal that won’t budge no matter where you need that big animal to go. If you stray from the plan? You feel like you’ve failed as a business startup owner.
My best advice to startups and still new businesses is don’t follow canned programs (someone else’s business plan). Toss out the word “plan” from your vocabulary.
Need more evidence?
- They take lots of time and effort and are frequently done with the primary intention of pleasing third parties like investors rather than developing a successful business
- They are usually wrong in terms of assumptions, time, programs success etc. and especially when you start making five year projections.
- They are usually not designed for flexibility. Rather you change one little idea, assumption or research finding and there goes 40-50 pages of hard work
A popular alternative, based on a variety of “lean Startup Principles ,” is skip the plan in favor of
- Developing (your business is organic and will change);
- Testing (make sure what changes still works);
- Measuring (have numbers to back up your business decisions); and
- Adapting (make smooth transitions when the need to change arises).
These business programs can fall so short because they:
- Ignore the financial needs of an organization like fixed investments for manufacturing or retail businesses
- Ignore expertise as a critical factor. For example. Steve Jobs is often quoted as saying,” You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.
- Are incomplete in terms of developing integrated components like legal, marketing, operations etc.
I actually like the notion of calling a business plan, something fun like, “legoland” because having that image gives you the right idea. Organize your business map so that it features parameters that can be easily modified as your business grows and changes, and if you remove one aspect (or block) the structure can still stand firm. For example, we recommend developing a quick and simple income model that defines parameters and can be easily modified as more information is developed.
Once you learn your business as you move it along, you can return to your road map, legoland, whatever else you like, and see where you are, how you got there, and if the course you’ve outlined still works.
Dr. Bert Shlensky, president of www.startupconnection.net, offers experience and skills and a team devoted to developing and executing winning strategies for businesses of all kinds. This combination has been key to client success.
