You made it to the end! You must be keen. Or maybe you just missed out on reasons 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Assuming that you have read the other reasons, maybe my final reason will put you off.
Reason 5. You like firefighting
Since 2014 it seem like we’ve all been riding a flaming bucking bronco of news and events not seen in a generation: Referendums, multiple governments and prime ministers, pandemics, wars, tariffs. How am I meant to do a five year plan when I don’t know what’s going to happen next week?
This point is often made as the ultimate reason not to do a plan. “We can’t commit to a plan, we need to stay agile in this unstable environment”.
Here’s the thing:
Planning and Agility aren’t mutually exclusive.
If you need to be super-agile, then plan how you can structure your business to do this. How will you organise? Top-down businesses aren’t known for agility. How will you monitor and manage risk? What is your criteria for changing direction?
Agility brings its own risks. Plan how you manage it.
Even non-agile plans should have the flexibility for change built in. Business plans must not be carved in stone, they should be living documents. Reviews, success criteria, risk analysis, should all be part of your plan.
However, if you like firefighting; if you like getting bounced around by events; if you like reacting and not leading, then you probably don’t need a plan.
So, there you have it. Five good reasons not to write a business plan. Used sparingly they can keep your business plan-free for quite a while.
However, if none of the above reasons apply to you, maybe you should think about starting to write a plan. Let me know if we can help. Click here.
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