Do you recognise yourself in the list?
1. You simply do not have time to sit down and plan. You may still be working full time whilst starting a business, you may be devoting all of your time to working on the business. It doesn’t seem like good use of time to sit down and plan.
Without a plan how can you know what you are doing? You may resent spending time on the planning process now but I promise you that taking time now will save you so much time and heartache in a week, a month or maybe even in a year’s time. Will you make time?
2. You are not sure what a business plan is. Perhaps, secretly, you are really not sure what is required. 
Writing and number work may not be your favourite subjects. You don’t want to ask for help because, well, that would be embarrassing.
You are not alone. There is no one single definition of a business plan. Spend some time here on the site. Have a click around. Print off anything you think might be of use. Keep it simple. You have to know where you are right now and where you want to go. That’s the minimum. If you have an idea of how you are going to get there too, so much the better. You can do this!
3. You are frightened that your plan may not stack up. You may have dreamt about this business idea but now it is time to take action you are worried that it isn’t viable. Perhaps you have concerns about your own abilities, the economy or just the business idea. So you choose not to plan – in case your fears are confirmed.
What would you rather do – sit down and take some time to come up with a plan that will work or slam into a wall of insolvency in just a few months? Choice is yours. The beauty of planning rather than continuing in denial is you have an opportunity to tweak your original idea until it becomes something that can and will work.
4. You hate being tied down - you like to fly by the seat of your pants. Having a business plan sounds far too restrictive. You know that you cannot plan for all eventualities, so why plan at all. It’s a waste of time, isn’t it?
Well, no it isn’t. Of course you cannot expect your plan to work out exactly, you will almost certainly be derailed at least once. The strength in having a plan is that you still know where you are headed, whatever life throws at you. You can see the likely danger spots and plan a measured response rather than be forced into a knee jerk reaction. A good business plan is a dynamic document which grows and evolves with your business.
5. You carry your plan around in your head. It’s your business and you know exactly where you are and where you are going. You aren’t answerable to anyone else so there’s no need to have a written plan.
To an extent, you are right and if you really can keep the detail of even the simplest of cashflow forecasts in your head, I am impressed. I know members of Mensa who couldn’t do that. You need to be operating at full capacity as you start your business and carrying around unnecessary mental processes isn’t going to help you. Getting your plan out of your mind and on to paper or a computer screen will free up mental capacity.
This list doesn’t pretend to be complete. You may well have yet another reason for not having a business plan for your business – are you willing to share it with us in the comment section? How has not having a plan hindered or perhaps helped you?
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I use business planning as a form of procrastination. I think it’s possible to get so bogged down in the process of planning and organising that there is no time left to to do the work. It’s wonderful way of convincing yourself that you have been busy all day. Almost as good as spending time on an email sig, Google Reader or Twitter. Let’s not even talk about designing logos…….