Self-employed? Read this before you start a business plan
By MK Emerson
Traditional business plans try to force clarity before it exists. Most people would consider this preparing for the worst or success. But, it’s business. That means it evolves and your market pretty much dictates the direction you take your products or services.
Now, I grew up back east where we had hurricanes. My parents are also immigrants from an island. Stocking up on supplies and preparing for emergencies where you couldn’t leave your home was smart. Those items came in handy. But predicting what you’re going to offer to people? A waste of time, unless you need it to get a grant/investment.
Otherwise, I think it’s garbage, arguably.
Business Plans Are Not Intuitive
Planning systems like the IPM are more intuitive because they often evolve through:
Observation
Experimentation
Refinement
Successful businesses test their markets. They create what’s called a “Minimal Viable Product”. What happens is, they have an idea - gathered through creative thought and observation from competitors or market research - and put out a beta test to see how people respond.
If the feedback is good, then they proceed to the next step, refinement or expansion.
Taco Bell likes to use Fresno county and Kern county to test new Doritos sponsored tacos and what not. If those marketplaces sell out, it may be worth trying a new region. If it fails, the plan goes out the window or deferred.
Business Plans Should Be Creative
The foundation of every entrepreneur is creativity. It all started with an idea. Perhaps you saw something and saw an opportunity. Or you woke up at 3am and got too excited to sleep. It requires a special brain to see business endeavors everywhere around you. That also takes creative thought.
If you meticulously plan out every detail or action step for the years ahead, you are essentially diminishing your chance to have more creativity.
This blog, for instance, was never one I wanted to write. It never came to my mind. It was never part of an ultimate agenda. It came to me when I was brushing my teeth and thinking about a mentor I had 10 years ago who told me to stop wasting time on a business plan. My thoughts unraveled and I realized, ‘I want to talk about this.’ So I tabled it until I was ready. But, if I had a “plan” and a step-by-step packet of what I needed to work on, this would probably have never come to my mind. I may have been too preoccupied with the next thing on my agenda to have freedom of thought.
It’s suggested that your business plan is laid out to cover the next three to five years. If you’re starting out, you have no idea if anything after the first year is going to pan out. Most of the time, from the businesses I’ve started, and what I’ve seen in others, your audience will guide you.
Your Business should Scale
It’s a good idea that your business can be scalable. Still, it’s not necessary. You can have a few high quality products that people get used to getting from you, especially if you’re running a digital marketing agency and only excel in one thing like copywriting. However, many businesses eventually offer more items for their market. Why else did Oreos create the Double Stuffed version? Think they knew people wanted more stuff in the middle when they started? They had one cookie and they knew they could turn it into anything.
ice cream
pie crusts
holiday themes
shakes
That’s scale. And you learn that as time goes on.
If buyers gave feedback that they wanted more of one thing, but your plan says the next step is totally different, which one do you think is better to invest in? Think of the bottom line:
Make money.
It’s wiser to “plan” your business with your customer’s opinions in mind.
I’m talking about scale because it’s essential to know, when your business is still just an idea, if you have something that can branch out and grow. Can your idea turn into multiple products or services depending on the need?
If it can scale, that’s good. You don’t have to make a plan years ahead to know exactly which order you are going to grow. In fact, when I did this, an investor told me, “That’s too much. What if this happens in life, or that, (she was referring to me having kids). You guys are trying to do it all.” She knew it was a risk. Scale back if you are trying to get an investment of some kind. They need to know you aren’t biting off more than you can chew.
Where Intuition Comes In
We use what’s called a Task Menu with the IPM. If you keep an open channel for creativity to flow, which means throwing out all rigid plans, then ideas are going to come in left to right. You’re going to keep that inspiration many self-employed people lose at some point. That passion you started with? It can stay if you break free from over-planning every detail.
With the task menu, you list out your creative ideas. One sheet that can have all the new products, services, marketing strategies, and what not. Naturally, you can categorize these and organize, but the point is that when the juices are flowing, you’re going to want to do them all.
Here is where we can prevent burnout or losing that steam us business owners tend to lose.
If we expect to execute on every single idea we get excited about, we risk getting overwhelmed. You may think that plotting a map on when to take action is wise, but like I’ve mentioned, you can’t predict that any of those ideas are going to be received well.
Instead, when you have a new idea, try this:
Add it to your “New Idea Menu” or something along those lines, then walk away.
When you are ready to start a new project, go to this list and select which one makes the most sense to work on right now, based on:
Observation: Your audiences’ need
If you don’t have an audience yet, start the experimentation process and try whatever idea you feel most pulled toward.
The menu serves as a storage for ideas that so far only qualify as worthy because it came from your intuition. It has not yet proved worthy for your target market. Which means, painfully, not every idea you have is needed or wanted. You can either skip it on the list or remove it.
So, Do You Need a Business Plan?
Nope. But you do need to maintain that ambition, drive, and curiosity. To do that, you need to keep the white space in your planning process. Intuition cannot come from a tight, A-type, mindset. It cannot follow from a detailed schedule.
The best advice I can give anyone starting a business is this:
Do whatever you can possible to ensure you never lose fuel.
If you think that means getting good sleep, eating well, and exercising to maintain energy, think again. Your gumption is going to come from whether or not you are aligned with your efforts.
Stay in alignment.
If you have any other questions or want to share your feedback, please don’t hesitate to comment or contact me. I’m always here to help!
MK