Your Business Plan is Wrong – Why an Imperfect Business Plan Can Still Succeed

As a human, you are incapable of perfection. This takes no proving to obviously be true. Once you agree with this statement, you realize that it is impossible to write a perfect business plan. In fact, if you have one in place already, your business plan is wrong. Period. The reason this can be stated without a doubt is that business plans predict the future. However, since they are written by humans, who are terrible at predicting the future, there is no way they can be fully accurate, no matter how painstakingly they are created.

Here is the paradox: planning is essential to the success of your business. The word "planning" here means starting out with an idea for taking action, tracking that idea, reviewing its progress, and correcting it when necessary without losing focus of the final goal. Therefore, your imperfect business plan is like the initial idea for taking action that will need to be modified as you go along. Without pointing your car in the right direction, you will never even begin to get where you are going. Once you push on the gas, you may realize that the road turns here and there, thus requiring you to make adjustments in the steering to reach your final goal.

Consider how difficult making accurate predictions can be. No one likes being held accountable for their incorrect predictions. However, something that is more difficult than attempting predictions with your business plan is trying to run your business without a plan. The initial planning stage transforms into management as your business begins to take shape and the holes in your imperfect business plan begin to be filled. Of course, this will only happen if you return to your plan again and again with the goal of eventually creating a business plan that tells the story of your company's accomplishments.

Therefore, even though you know your plan is wrong when you write it out for the first time, rest assured that it will eventually be ironed out. The bottom line is that you should not attempt to get your business up and running without a forecast of what is going to happen, even if that forecast is wrong. Chances are it will be within the general proximity you need to still succeed. Consider the weatherman—he might predict 60 degrees and sunny. Even if it is 68 degrees and partly cloudy, you could probably bank on having no snow that day based on his forecast.

The Startup Garage is your one stop shop for business plan writing for all industries. Whether you’re a sole proprietor, small business or high growth business we can help you through our business consulting, business plan writing, or business plan coaching services.