Are Business Plans a Waste of Time?

As a business advisor it may seem strange that I should ask that question at all.  Don’t all advisors/mentors/coaches stress the need to have a business plan and say things like, “fail to plan is a plan to fail”? 

In my opinion it comes down to the type of business plan that is produced and the length of time it takes to produce it.  Many business plans ARE a waste of time because they are too wordy, too “corporate”, don’t motivate staff and are not connected to the day-to-day operations of the business.  I read an article recently on writing a business plan (unfortunately I can’t remember where) and it said that a business plan could take between 400 and 500 hours to produce.  ARE YOU KIDDING!  Who in small business ownership world has a spare 500 hours to produce a business plan, and probably one that no one will look at again for another year! That would be a huge waste of time.

What is of real value is the planning PROCESS involved in putting a business plan together. Here’s how….