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John Jantsch Marketing Coach
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    • Tue Jul 15, 2008

    I Hate Business Plans

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    Okay, anyone who knows me at all knows that I don’t really hate anything, and I don’t really hate business plans, what I dislike is the way people think about, and then consequently use, business and marketing plans.

    To me, a plan for anything is an action plan. If fact, the first step in creating a plan should be to decide how to update the plan. The document itself if merely a guideline. Things change, you grow, shift and bob and weave in this thing called a business. It’s the planning process, the digging to get some of the answers for the plan that contains the real value in this process anyway. It’s a bit like preparing the soil for a garden. The crop is what people want, but it’s the soil preparation that makes the difference come State Fair time.

    Plan as you goSo . . . that’s why I’m really thrilled to have the opportunity to give 10 lucky Duct Tape Marketing readers a free copy of Tim Berry’s new book – The Plan as You Go Business Plan Book. Tim is the founder of Palo Alto Software and chief author of Business Plan Pro – by far and way the leading business plan software. Tim knows more about business plans and business planning than most people ever will, certainly more than I ever will, and his approach, laid out in this book, is exactly why I started this post out with such an attention grabbing headline.

    Tim doesn’t hate business plans, they are his livelihood, but once you read Tim’s book, you’ll understand that there’s a different way to think about and do business planning.

    So, how do you get Tim’s book? Be one of the first 10 to answer this question in the comment section of this post – just hit comment and tell me – “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .”

    All comments are timestamped, so it’s very easy for me to keep track of the order. Once you make the comment I’ll get your mailing address offline.

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    Posted by: John Jantsch on Jul 15, 08 | 5:05 am
    Category: Business Books, Entrepreneur | Tags: , ,

    Comments
    « | Home | »
    • “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .”if I don't know what my business does, how it differs from other businesses, who my market is, and how I want to reach them, my prospects and customers won't know either.

      Or, to put it more succinctly, I can't get where I'm going if I don't know where it is!
    • Zack
      I hate business plans but I love business planning because...it gives me the opportunity to truly examine my idea for personal benefit. I can assess is this something I'm truly excited about or is it barely a drop in the bucket?
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because they tell me what to do with all the investor money I'm going to get.

      Seriously, they help direct your activities day in and day out. The old "working ON your business, not IN your business".
    • Tom
      “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .” we all know where we want to get to...the destination is a successful business, but how you get there, and how you chart your progress to determine if you will get there in the most appropriate time is essential. You dont need a road map always when on a trip, but you do when you think you are lost...
    • William Bingham
      I hate business plans. Especially ones printed out. Nothing is more static and confining than a plan that refuses to change, made from dead trees.

      I love business planning. How much of my annual sales will go back into marketing? How much resource labor do I need to accomplish a growth goal? Who is my ideal customer? Great questions but the answers change sometimes daily! I'd love to have competition that use a paper plan. :)
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because it gives me a focus and helps me define my direction for my future store. It makes me study my competitors in the area and really know where I should be different to attract my future customers.
    • Because they make me money!
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because... business planning give me a chance to challenge my existing ideas and the facts I think I know about my business. I find great inspiration in researching what my competitors are doing, why they are doing it, and finding ways to use that to my advantage.

      Business planning gives me an education into the current marketplace, so I can set goals for how my business will perform. Having goals keeps me inspired to be as productive as possible and measuring myself against those goals lets me know where my planning was strong and what needs improvement.
    • "I hate business plans but I love business planning because..." business planning helps me make course corrections that will keep my business floating. They help me critically analyze whats working and whats not, trim whats not, and replace it with something that might have a shot.
    • “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . ."

      It's impossible to share a vision without knowing how to get there. Planning and sharing the goals to attain the vision are important. But. . .

      A business plan needs to be flexible enough to allow reaction to new opportunities and market changes. I never want to be held hostage by a piece of paper.
    • Aaron
      I hate business plans but love business planning because plans are cast away at the first sign of trouble but constant planning ensures a new path can be found.
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .

      Business plans introduce a formality-first level of planning. I understand that plans need to be "churched-up" before seeing funding etc, but too often it seems that the core purpose of the plan gets overshadowed by the layout and formatting etc.

      Business planning on the other hand is a wonderful experience. I have numerous reference charts, cost evaluators and pro-forma spreadsheets that I update each month when I do my monthly billing. I use these as my check-and-balance method to make sure we are still on track.

      I use these references religiously, however, because they are used so often, the contain my notes and lack the formatting I would use for a business plan.
    • Tim Berry's got some interesting ideas worth exploring! If you haven't seen Tim's video on WORKBENCH, go here:

      http://workbench.ducttapemarketing.com/kickapps...

      Randy
      DTMAC, Fort Worth, TX
    • I hate business plans, but I love business planning because B-school has made business plans boring - but business planning exciting.
    • Ben
      I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . . I have way too many ideas floating around for my business to begin to get them down in print and priority.
    • Garry Martin
      “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . . being without a plan is like being without a map. A map isn't functional until you know where you are on it. Locating yourself on a map provides a point of reference for motion; how much is required and in what direction. In the same way, a plan in business is critical for understand what you have achieved, where you are, where you need to be and how you proceed in making headway."
    • Lisa Starbuck
      I hate business plans but I love business planning because I like to have a plan but I hate to write it down.
    • “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .”
      ...A business plan feels so final and concrete, but planning is a process that allows change.
    • “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . . it's part of laying out a goal, a chance to design and sculpt out the target I want to aim for.

      The 'idea' is great, but it's not gonna get made by itself, so I need a plan to keep things in perspective while working towards the final product. The plan part is not fun, it's boring and filled with lots of things I don't want to think about. But that's precisely why I need it - it's the details about cost and management and cutting the extras down to the necessities - that keep me on track, giving me more room to shape and experiment until the final outcome is ready.
    • "I hate business plans, but I love business planning because..." when done well, it provides a great framework for future decision making. All too often though, it's planning for sake of planning. No sooner does the ink dry when it gets put in a file or maybe hung on the wall, but never really looked at again until the end of the year when we look at it and say "what were we thinking when we wrote that." Far too often it's seen as something we're suppose to do, so it's a task that is completed and checked off, but it should be a tool that is engaging and directs future decision making and provide a frame work for short term goals.
    • GS
      “I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .”

      Business plans attempt to predict the future with a set, sometimes stagnant, vision, where as business planning is knowing the facts of your business, the industry, and all the other variables - allowing you to adapt and adjust to the ever-changing market.
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because I am able to stay agile and respond to my market's needs, instead of revising some document every quarter.
    • "I hate business plans but I love business planning because..." it is a lamp unto the feet of my business. It tells me where to go in the short-term, gives me an end goal for the long-term, but allows me to go back and adjust if there is a fork in the road, a road block, or a dead end.
    • I hate business plans, but I love business planning because ... acting without planning is too often simply reacting, whereas creating elaborate plans too far ahead of time carries the risk that the "facts on the ground" will render all your work obsolete, and something of a waste of time.
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because without a good plan too many people in your organization get moving in different directions. Successful companies are those that have a plan and change it when it is necessary, not after every new customer comes along.
    • Patricia Anderson
      I hate business plans but I love business planning for basically the same reason...business plans force you to take all the big ideas and distill them into workable action plans. This can be a time consuming and difficult task, particularly when there is a lot of other work to be done. And when we have so many ideas and big dreams for the future, with only a limited budget to work with right now. Business plans force you to prioritize and make the tough decisions for what to do now, next month, next quarter, etc. They also help you to keep an eye on the future - where do we want to go, and what's next for the business? Sometimes getting the ideas on paper helps really define the goals. Working up a business plan is an essential exercise to go through. Even if it's not a full-blown, fancy document, it's important to get something on paper...
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .

      It's exciting to create something to fill a need. Figuring out the who and what... and then the *how* drives me, inspires me and thrills me. (It's also fun to look back in six months, a year etc, and see how it's matching up and tweak if necessary.)
    • JMS
      I hate business plans but I love business planning because I feel like I'm solving real problems with the latter, predicting the future with the former. I know that's not actually the case, but that's often how it feels.
    • Mike Visconti
      “I hate business plans but I love business planning because..."
      it allows me to visualize where I want to take my business and establish a concrete plan to get there. Business planning always helps me realize crucial elements about my customers and how to address their needs.
    • Andrew
      I hate business plans but I love business planning because...my company needs to know how we are going to bring a industry shaping product to market in a way that the market will understand!
    • Kim Peters
      I hate business plans because I just can't think that far ahead. I love business planning because it let's me look at options for a nearer future that I can see if I squint my eyes a little...
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . . I have the passion...it is my blood sweat and tears on the front line. And that is the beauty of Business; your business passion, vision and dedication transcends the tangible business plan.
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because sticking to something you wrote 6 months ago is often a recipe for disaster. Our market is so dynamic and our product so new that we have to constantly adapt to circumstances and customer feedback.
    • Jon
      I hate business plans because planning ahead more than 90 days has never worked for me. You CAN plan ahead, but don't put anything in stone, because in the real world you have to adapt and change.
    • "I hate business plans but I love business planning because . . .” Business planning allows me to create company procedure manuals as I work on a specific plan. These manuals are a great tool later for training or outsourcing.
    • because so much of the planning seems like guesswork, however without it you just end up aimlessly adrift...
    • Business plans, traditional business plans, seem to be vanishing in the small business world. I create a lot of marketing plans and I encourage owners to look at them as gardens: they require almost daily tending if you want to "reap a harvest" in the end. Just like a garden, if you create a business plan and go back to check how you're doing in three months, you'll be disappointed.
    • jeremiah
      I hate business plans but I love business planning because every time I have tried doing a formal business plan it seems like I am building a box around my creativity and the ability to re-align my goals. While I still keep a high level business plan by my side, it is not being used as a complete set of blinders, more of a north star to keep me on track yet giving me room for adventure.
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because in my area things change very quickly, and constant business planning allows me to react faster.
    • "I hate business plans but I love business planning because..." I love my business. Writing a 'business plan' sucks, but actually planning and executing my business is amazing.
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because.. they make me think about what's next and how to get there.

      Otherwise, if you don't know where you are going, any train will get you there.

      - D3
    • I'm a little late but ill answer anyway...

      I hate business plans but I love business planning because....its gives me goals and motivation. Without some type of planning I wouldn't have anything to strive for. The plan can be extremely broad and open and even if I end up somewhere I had no intention of being it will be because I had an idea or dream at some point.
    • ...I love business planning because it reminds me that I am in business.
    • Sumit Garg
      I hate business plans but I love business planning because it helps to bring in some predictability to my otherwise spontaneous decisions.
    • I hate business plans but, as someone once said,
      "failing to plan, is planning to fail."
    • I hate business plans but I love business planning because it can totally uncover the unlimited potential of where I can take my business.
    • I hate business plans... NOT! What I hate is the reality that business plans don't help you plan your business, they ONLY help you present your business to financiers. If you want a plan that really helps you develop your idea into a successful venture, stay away from Business Plan Pro and try QuickPlanner Plus. It is good to see that Tim Berry is marketing himself well and keeping up with the era of FastCompany planning, but Business Plan Pro was a headache when I tried it four years ago, and it is still a headache now.
    • Hmmmm, good question....I hate it because I don't think I have time to do it (or do it well), but when I look back afterwards, I realize how important it is.

      Business planning is like writing, even if I don't refer to it again, the act of clarifying makes it stand out stronger in my mind.
    • Just to be contrary but also to continue the debate

      I love business plans because they provide a record of intention at the time.

      So often there is this huge gap between what we say we will do, what we do and what results we get.

      A business plan gives you the chance to look back and reflect on why things didn't go as you expected.

      A business plan gives you a chance to learn and adapt your future behaviour.

      A business plan stops your mind playing tricks on you as each day your plan evolves and you forget what you thought.

      A business plan captures some of those brilliant ideas that you still haven't put into action so that you can bring them back to the table.

      I love business plans, I love business planning...I hate people failing to take purposeful action.

      I hate it when people won't decide on where they want to go and drift aimlessly.

      I hate it when people don't measure and monitor the business.
    • A favorite client quote, "Angie, the best coaching advice you ever gave me was, "If writing a business plan isn't your thing, then don't write one". This client was banging his head against the wall because he had a block about the writing not the plan. He was intimidated by the process of sitting down at this desk and writing. I suggested he buy a voice recorder and go to the beach and talk about his vision. It worked well for him and he was able to move his business forward. This book will be freeing to many folks that have the same issues with business planning. I work with a lot of business owners and executives and often see clients cringe when I mention business plans. There's just something about those words that seem to instantly increase their stress levels. Clients move to thinking allnighters, pulling my hair out, wasting time when I could be working, things change anyway so why bother, I don't have time for that, et al. These same clients who can't focus on their business plans continue to wonder why they can't seem to get clarity on their business and why they can't get sales to the next level. Thanks for giving them another option and thanks for giving me another tool!
    • I can understand the idea of hating business plans but love business planning. Business plans need to be only as detailed as the purpose to which it placed. If you are raising capital (debt or equity) you will need a formal business plan. If you do not like to them, then hire someone to do it for you. For internal purposes, a "bullet-level" business plan for each of the major sections (marketing, operations, management, financial assumptions) and financial analysis is all that is needed. I use a business plan in my business because I use it as a to do list that helps me stay connected to goals.

      What do you really need to know from a business plan? I need to know right now what I need to do now, to make my business succeed. Because all you ever have is now. Perhaps planning is the best use of now.

      Frank Dobner
      www.thestartupsource.com
    • Adil113
      Hi,

      Yes today most of the businesses failed, because no one gave importance to learning; only having a good idea is not always enough. Learning is the everlasting process.

      I totally agree with you, it is not necessary if you have a solid idea then you will succeed. There are so many things you have to look when you are starting any new venture, just having an good idea is not enough, you need to have knowledge and strategies and proper strategy execution is far important then just having a strategy under your belt, and most crucial part is you have to craft yourself according to the needs of the market and without learning its not possible.
      I personally like your post; you have shared good insights and experiences. Keep it up.

      Business Plan Writers
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