POVLITZ Inc | Business and Entrepreneur

I bet you don’t want to draft a business plan. Maybe you are thinking that you know what you are going to do and consider it as a waste of time. Possibly you have your funding in place so you figure that no one is ever going to read it, so why bother. I don’t blame you. Business plans are a lot of work and you may, in fact, be the only person who ever reads it. But it is still an important exercise nonetheless.

Think of it this way: An experienced pilot would not fly anywhere without a detailed, well-researched flight plan. The plan helps him understand where he is going and how he will get there. Just as you wouldn’t trust a new pilot to fly you and your family to an unknown destination without some assurances that he planned the trip, knew where he was going, and knew how to get there, you shouldn’t trust that you can start a business without a plan.

A business plan is your flight plan, your game plan. It is your blueprint. Creating one forces you to carefully think through the entire enterprisefrom products, prices, and income projections to advertising, marketing, and sales forecasts. By analyzing some things that you are probably unfamiliar and uncomfortable with, you are forced to really understand what you are getting into and how much money you can realistically expect to make. If you don’t create a plan, your entire enterprise will be a shot in the dark and you are going to be investing too much of your time, money, reputation, and ego to wander around in the dark, hoping your business will work. That is why you need a plan.