Eliminating Fear in the Phrase “Business Plan”

Drew Hackman
Aug 28, 2017 · 2 min read

“You need a business plan.” **insert cringe emoji**

Did the mere mention of a BP (AKA It That Shall Not Be Named) make you shudder? Give you anxiety? Overwhelm you with fear, dread, and the unyielding weight of a massive document waiting to be finished (or started)?

I have good news. You don’t need a business plan!! Woo!!

^ says the guy who does business planning for a living (that’s me).

You heard me right. You don’t need a business plan.

At least, not in the conventional sense. Not if you’re going to write It That Shall Not Be Named once, put it in a drawer and never look at it again.

What you need is something that inspires you.

You don’t need a business plan; You need a motivational tool.

How do you eat an elephant? … One bite at a time ;)

Start: With your inspiration. What is the problem that’s motivating you? What are the values most dear to you, what are you trying to accomplish, what grand vision do you see?

*Build everything around this.*

-> If your Start isn’t clear, you won’t be happy.

Then: What’s your unfair advantage? What are you offering that someone else isn’t doing already (or isn’t doing well)? *How are you going to make money (immediately, or down the road)?*

-> If your Then isn’t clear, you won’t beat the competition.

Then 2.0: What tools do you need to succeed? Teammates? Advocates? Business partners? Collaborators? Leverage your network.

-> If your Then 2.0 isn’t clear, you’ll be working twice as hard to get half as far.

Finally: Translate the “how are you going to make money” part into $$. Go to Excel: Write down your costs, operating expenses, and revenue streams. Your best guess for the first 12 months, and your *best guess* year-to-year for 3–5 years.

-> If your Finally isn’t clear, and you fail, you may not fail smart, which is more important than failing fast.

***State Your Assumptions*** <- That’s the engineer in me.

Print it all out. Soak it up. Revisit it in a week. Redline it. Make changes. Repeat every week for the first 3 months, revisiting and revising. Then, biweekly, as needed. Eventually, monthly.

But always revisit.

*It That Shall Not Be Named is a dynamic organism that needs TLC.*

Congrats, you just wrote your first Business Plan :)

GASP! WE SAID ITS NAME!

“Call [it a Business Plan], Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.”

Ok, I lied. You do need a business plan. But it doesn’t seem so scary anymore, does it? ^_^

)
Drew Hackman

Written by

Founder of Startup Hacker Consulting LLC, whose mission is to help social enterprise startups grow their business and advance their social cause.

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