The Business Plan 

Should you be seeking outside financing for your startup or early stage business, a business plan may be necessary. (We don't make up the rules, we just learn them.)

Nowhere else is the Golden Rule: "They who have the gold, rule." more prevalent than in the financial community investing or lending to new entrepreneurs. Business plans are often requested by banks, venture capitalists, angel investors, seed fund and grant administrators, etc. Fair enough, it's their money.

"Business plan building" is a big business, as demonstrated by the thousands of books, tapes, videos and courses sold today. Even your friendly, neighborhood, tax-subsidized, small business development center will be happy to sell you numerous courses on the topic, with such enticing titles as "Roadmap to Success" or "How to get a Loan."

The requirement for the business plan has been forwarded by those with the deep pockets and propagated by academic institutions, filled with those who can't "do" so they "teach."

Seven things to know about business plans:

1. Even the most perfect plan ever written will not necessarily get funded.
2. Even the most perfectly written business plan perfectly executed will not necessarily produce a successful business.
3. The struggle in composing the business plan has caused more than one potentially great entrepreneur to never launch a wonderful idea.
4. There are literally hundreds of thousands of highly successful businesses in operation today that were started without a business plan, a college degree or deep pockets.
5. The next time you're hob-knobbing with Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, Ralph Lauren, Michael Dell, the late Mary Kay Ash, Steve Jobs, Sam Walton or Walt Disney (just to name a few), ask about their business plan? (They didn't have one.)
6. Remember the huge "dot com" implosion? Every one of those busted companies had a business plan that was read in detail by the investors.
7. Here's something you may find of interest: a Houston Chronicle article Saturday, November 5, 2011 - purva.patel@chron.com about the 20 year old who just raised 1 million dollars: "We didn't have an executive summary or a business plan . . . just two people and a story and a demo."
   

Now, if your heart is set on a business plan or you have to have one for funding, we'll be delighted to guide you though it. Just be aware that there is an alternative that is gaining wide acceptance as a replacement: "The Business Overview" and we'll be equally delighted to take you through that, too.

 "Throughout history, men have walked down unknown roads to success armed with nothing more than their own vision." - Ayn Rand

The way it is:
"Those who can, do."
"Those who can't, teach."
"Those who can't teach, teach teachers."
"Those who can't teach teachers, teach business plans."
The way it should be:
"Those who can, do and teach entrepreneurship."

I started my business in the late 70's with a direct SBA loan and a SCORE Counselor. My Counselor (God rest his soul) was a former business owner who took his business from start-up to significant revenue - with no business plan - before selling it and entering "retirement."  Among his words to me were: "Stay away from people who have no hands-on business ownership experience."

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