Why Do You Need a Business Plan?

I was doing my laundry one afternoon when a woman representing a commercial real estate company called me. She was actually returning my call about one of their properties. As the call went on, she asked me if I had a business plan, then told me i'd first have to get the plan together then call back to discuss leasing options. In general there was nothing wrong with what she said and was completely fair in asking for a business plan, but it did get me thinking: how could you tell someone if they don't have a business plan there's nothing you can do for them?

I believe having a business plan is very helpful in showing what direction you'd like to take your business in, but it does not determine success. To me saying you must have a business plan to succeed is like saying you must have a resume to land a great career. I don't need a resume to land a great career; I just need to be in the right place, at the right time, around the right people doing the right thing(s) and everything else will take care of itself - certainly that's been my observation from experience. There was a guy at one of my employers who worked his way into management and was the best manager that place ever had and i'm positive his resume had nothing to do with it. He had a strong work ethic and was ambitious enough to climb to the top and increased his value to the workplace, in the process. The same is said for a woman I acknowledge as my favorite manager ever - her success had nothing to do with resume (in fact her numbers would say she under-performed) but she was an amazing leader with a wonderful personality that even other managers appreciated.

Having a great business plan will open many doors and lead you toward some very assistive resources, but it will not be the difference between your business failing or succeeding. My solution is to align yourself with some valuable partners, take the growth of your business in strides by taking chances; assess and observe your practices very carefully, and be prepared to adjust over time as things change - economically, culturally and otherwise. Have a sense of vision guiding you toward where you'd like to go. At some point you'll have to crunch the numbers and consult raw data but that'll happen in the flow of understanding business, not just when someone tells you it's needed for a proposal. You'll have a plan one minute then change it the next due to I don't know- regulation changes, another industry breaks through that affects your current industry of choice - things happen, and you'll be forced to make adjustments no matter how sound your business plan happens to be. There are quite a few things needed to do well in business, much less start a business, but I can assure you - a definite business plan is not one of them.

This article was Written and Edited by C3D for CollegeWorld, LLC. 

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