Even the thought of starting a business is daunting. When you finally muster up the courage to take the first step, test the waters, it is easy to be weighed down by pieces of advice from all over the place, most of these from people, who have already done what you set out to do, is logical and helpful but some can pull you under.
One of these is having a solid, well-detailed business plan. Having a plan is necessary and one of the crucial steps, everyone agrees on that. What I have a problem with is the advice that you need to have a solid plan for everything, a market strategy, product strategy, competitor analysis, financial projections, and all that comes with it.
This can discourage someone before they even begin or worse take up all their initial meager resources into doing this, leading them to drop their plan altogether.
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The market is dynamic, your plan is not
When plans are created, by people who are starting, they are most of the times created in the moment – taking into account the present scenario or the near future scenario. The market for businesses is dynamic and changes occur rapidly, the document becomes useless after a point of time. Sticking to it can be a cause of failure, so, micro-details won’t be of significant help anyway.
Business Plans take up a lot of time
It’s easier to get lost in creating the perfect document and have as much detail as possible to show possible investors how serious you are, but it doesn’t work that way. The hefty document is most likely going to bore your investors. Spending a lot of energy also makes you somewhat delusional that completing it brings you closer to starting your business. When you finish it, the bubble bursts that you are still where you were with a lengthy proposal that is primarily for yourself.
Never to see the light
It’s easy to think that you will be going through your plan each morning as soon as you wake up to always be on track with your vision and be motivated. Think realistically, is that going to happen? You will do it for maybe a week or two and then it will be forgotten. Chances are you won’t even open it after you make the final edits.
As important as planning is, it is important to know when to step. It is also necessary to understand that you do not have to have everything figured out to start something. You don’t need to have a detailed 5-year plan because that doesn’t account for much in an ever growing and changing environment. Target the major areas and work out the details as you go because with the ever-changing time you need to be flexible and so does your business.
About Carson Derrow
