Guest Post From: George Krueger and Mary-Lynn Foster
As small business owners, we often link a business plan to a funding request. We need money so we need a plan. Our funders demand it.
Unfortunately, entrepreneurs who think like this haven’t made a crucial distinction. Planning serves a more critical function than raising money. You (and, therefore, your business) benefit more from planning than anyone.
In fact, the plan itself isn’t really that important. In today’s fast-moving business world, the plan may be largely irrelevant by the time you hit “Print”.
It’s the process of planning that creates the benefits. Note the distinction – the process itself is where most of the benefits reside.
4 benefits of planning
If we haven’t learned anything else from our recent economic conditions, we have learned (should we say relearned?) how uncertain the future can be.
Academicians and corporate chieftains are starting to understand what successful entrepreneurs already knew – you can’t predict the future; you must create it!
To create your future, focus on the planning process. This helps you:
Thoughts are fuzzy. Planning helps define them. You will likely discover many “gaps” when you put your thoughts through a rigorous planning process.
Outsourcing your risk is one of the most critical skills you can develop. It begins with the planning process.
We often think of planning as a process to discover opportunities. In fact, the reverse is true – the planning process helps you rule out options. By ruling out options, you can focus on the few things that will make you successful.
You will face fewer surprises as a result of your planning. When they do arise, you will be prepared to adapt more quickly.
3 key questions
Planning doesn’t have to be cumbersome, especially if you’re already in business. Just answer these three questions:
You want to know where you’re going even if you don’t fully know how you’ll get there. Planning helps you set your course. The path you take will change as you assess the situation on the ground.
In his book, The Richest Man in Town, Randall Jones – the founder of Worth magazine – showed us that this is the entrepreneur’s focus. This paradigm perfectly aligns with our rapidly changing world.
One thing you can be certain of is that things won’t go as expected. Think about course corrections before you encounter them. Then, if you face them, you’ll be more prepared. This extra effort will serve you well.
After you’ve invested some time in planning, go! Action is to planning what planning is to the plan.
George Krueger and Mary-Lynn Foster blog about entrepreneuring at biggsuccess.com. George is a serial business owner and teaches Entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois. Mary-Lynn is a first-time entrepreneur and audio production specialist.
