Planning: Forget The Detail

We know the old clique about failing to plan. The advice in every “Starting a Business” book about how important a plan is. I know If I want to keep fit I have to plan a training program and follow it, if I want to drive from A to b I have to plan the journey and stick to it. So what about business? Well-read any book and they will all highlight the need for a good plan.

The problem is some of the plans they recommend writing need a PHd to understand. Personally I don’t see the need for such in-depth planning. I’m not going to the bank asking for money so I don’t need to show my plan to anyone. Just as well because I’m probably the only one who can understand it.

When I sat down to write my plan I kept it short and simple. First I asked myself what was the objective of the plan? What I wanted my plan to give me was visible measurable results over time. I needed to be able to measure what success I was having from the stratergies I was deploying.

I also needed to map out a strategy, where I wanted to be in six months and how I planned to get there. I needed to create monthly targets, which I could strive for, and that’s about it. I know this plan wouldn’t pass muster with the bankers but who trusts bankers anymore. I mean what plan were Northern rock and Hbos working to.

My plan is written on three pieces of A4 paper. Yes I agree not very detailed but it has enough information for me to check that I’m meeting my targets. What I didn’t want to do was spend months with my elbows spread on the desk going over projected figures. You can plan too much until you are too afraid to move, a condition known as “analysis paralysis”

I wrote a small plan then just launched. Once I started to get real data in from the real market I was then in a position to make some changes to the plan and to be more concrete about what strategy to use to achieve my goals. I don’t see the need for one of those forty page business plans full of projected figures. I think taking action is more important.

It would probably have taken me six months to study how to write a detailed plan and then to write it. By which time I could have a bridgehead in my chosen market and be getting real data to work with. I know having a plan is good practice and will help keep me on track but I also know that too much planning can be a bad thing. Preventing us from taking that important step into the arena until all the conditions are just right. From my experience of life the conditions are never just right, there’s no point waiting for the heavens and stars to align before taking action. Life’s just too short for that.