Do you hate business plans? Not the start-up business plan, but the managing your business kind.

As cliché as it is, a new year nags at small business owners to plot out a plan for the upcoming year (and beyond). Yet another P word – procrastination – pushes our plan to the backburner. Before you know it, it’s July.

Business Plans Revisited

After a long corporate and business writing career, I decided to semi-retire from the business writing side. I kept a few longtime clients but wanted to see what came next.

And then the capital P procrastination hit me. While I’ve made baby steps in the transition to this next phase, I have not formalized a business plan.

Maybe our problem is we make business plans too darn complicated. Do you like how I made my problem “our” problem? 😉

A simple business plan works. It takes your foot off the procrastination pedal and jumpstarts your year.

Start with the three simple questions illustrated below.

1. What do you want to do?

Be specific. Answering, “Make more money,” sounds good but how do you do that? List ideas as they pop into your head. You can divorce those that don’t work out.

For example, maybe you know you need to get more efficient at your work, plus you have an idea for a new product. So, your initial list may look like the following.

• Purchase new software to streamline XYZ process.
• Pinpoint the purpose and functionality of the new product.
• Develop marketing strategy for your target market.

You can tackle one initiative or list all of them to decide the how and when for each.

Listing initiatives helps you identify priorities.

2. How do you want to do it?

Not writing down a business plan clogged the gears of this next phase of my life. I had an idea of what I wanted to do. But how I got there were vague thoughts wandering around in my head.

For example, I knew I wanted to explore print-on-demand (POD) products. That initiative alone can be overwhelming in the number of considerations.

• POD suppliers
• Upfront costs
• Selection and quality of goods
• Shipping
• Integration with store platforms
• Design tools
• Customer support
• And on and on and on

Flying by the seat of my pants without a plan is like playing a game of whac-a-mole. Once you research and learn about one issue, another one pops up.

I made the fatal error of treating this new phase without a written plan. I always had a business plan for my business writing – even if it was the simplest of plans. Time to regroup.

So, if you find yourself without a business plan, start simple.

Here’s a three-step approach for figuring out how you want to accomplish what you want to do.

• Do your homework – allow enough time for research but as Smart Money Mamas advise, “…don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis.”
• Create your plan draft – After you’ve completed the research, draft out your steps for completion.
• Refine and release – Tweak your steps, reprioritize but do it.

The beauty of this approach is it works for big projects or small. You can use the above three steps for each initiative.

Breaking tasks into manageable chunks avoids the overwhelmed feeling.

3. When do you want to do it?

This is where the rubber meets the road, and you pulverize procrastination.

Make your timeline as simple or detailed as you like.

• If you are a methodical person, add detail.
• If you are a big picture person, target a completion date.

For example, the methodical person might add a timeline for the homework, draft, release phases, while the big picture person focuses on the release date.

Developing a timeline triggers the nagging voice of accountability.

And remember the best thing about a plan.

Business Plan or Wishful Thinking

One of my favorite quotes on this topic is from French writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 – 1944).

1. What do you want to do?
2. How do you want to do it?
3. When do you want to do it?

What is your wish? Do you have a plan? Share your thoughts in Comments.

Credit: Bigstock Photo
Credit: Canva

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This post originally published on March 7, 2012. This January 8, 2024 version updates it.

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