Business Planning…has Been BROKEN
James Burgess
Author/Speaker/Global Business Planning Expert/Founder FOCUS31/Creator Of The Accountability To Profit Program
Business Planning has been broken by those who position it as having to be anything from twenty-five to fifty pages in length. Who are they? They are government agencies that purport to support small business, commercial bankers (small business bankers rarely ask for a business plan anymore) who need a business plan to assess your company’s financial request, consultants who want to write the plan for you, and accountants who want to generate cash flows for you.
None of these business plan sources, or the business plan formats they recommend, help you to be a better, smarter, and more focused business owner.
Business Planning is broken because you have let others prepare it for you. Do not have someone write your business plan for you. You will pay $5,000 to $25,000 for the plan and it will do nothing for you.
Consultants have broken Business Planning by suggesting that they can create a business plan for you so that you can get a loan from the bank or other financing source. They charge big sums of money for that plan so it has to be big. Big is impressive, isn’t it?
What’s broken with this approach?
- The business plan will be their interpretation of what your business can/will become
- It’s a story, not a business plan
- It costs too much because it has to be big
- It’s prepared for the wrong audience
- They don’t guarantee you’ll get the financing so when you are declined you have nothing
- It will end up in your credenza collecting dust because it has no relevance to you, it cost too much and it didn’t get you what you thought it should
- You’ll have a deep distrust for all other business advisors who could truly help you with progressing your business if you let them anywhere near you
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Certified Management Consultant | Strategist | Entrepreneur | A.I. in Business
6 年Strongly disagree. For example you state "None of these business plan sources, or the business plan formats they recommend, help you to be a better, smarter, and more focused business owner. Business Planning is broken because you have let others prepare it for you." This isn't true at all. Business planning is about reducing risk, becoming an industry expert, and spotting meaningful opportunities. You're article is for the 9/10 businesses that fail within 5 years...they don't need a business plan to fail. Not planning = planning to fail. Try raising real money without one...