Planning; don’t make it an excuse for inaction

We know the old clique about how failing to plan is planning to fail. And it’s true, we can’t move forward confidently without a plan. Every business book emphasises the need for a plan to enhance our chances of succeeding in our venture. What I don’t like is the insistence of some of these books that a plan has to be detailed and run into tens of pages. Containing detailed financial calculations.

This didn’t work for me. I just don’t see the point of spending days and possibly months writing a minutely detailed plan with forecasted financial data laid out on a spreadsheet. The figures can only be guesses. Some of the plans I’ve seen in books are like something you would do to impress a tutor on a PHD course. . Personally, I don’t see the need for such in-depth planning.

In fact, I believe it can be counterproductive and sap the energy out of you. After reading, as much as I could about business planning I decided to discard most of it and improvise with my own plan. The first question I asked myself is “what am I aiming to achieve?” I stated this clearly. My main goal.

Once I’d stated my goal, I needed to break it down into smaller goals that could be measured. I needed to know that I was on the right track to achieve my main long-term goal. By setting smaller goals, each with a target I can see my progress visually. This is important for moral. We grow in confidence when we are succeeding.

Having laid out my long-term goal and broken it down into smaller measurable, goals, I then broke the smaller goals down into targets. This is my plan. Once I had it written down on two sheets of A4, I launched. Once I launched my business, I was immediately getting feedback from the market I was in about my business strategy. My plan allows for flexibility. I have nothing set in stone apart from my long-term goal of creating wealth.

Certain strategies I deployed didn’t work, but I expected this and just changed them. I also saw opportunities that had never occurred to me during the planning process. The feedback I was getting from the market was real, not forecasted, so my decisions were based on concrete facts.

I recognise the importance of a plan but we can get caught up in planning to the point where we become paralysed, afraid to move until certain conditions are just right. It can become an excuse for inaction. If we wait for everything to be just right, until all the heavens have aligned for us, and our own position is perfect we will never launch.

I believe that taking strong positive action with a bad plan is better than sitting on the perfect plan. At least your bad plan will soon become apparent and you can make the necessary changes that will propel you towards your goal. The perfect plan will never happen because there’s too many variables coming into and out of play all the time. Don’t let planning become an excuse for inaction.

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.