The Vision-Based Business Plan

The idea of a business plan is very comforting. It makes people feel safe and secure to know that there is a plan guiding business activities in the “right” way.

But why is it that business plans almost never come to life? Why do almost all of them, once written, sit on a shelf and gather dust, while the futures they describe never see the light of day, and the businesses they describe wobble their way into their uncertain futures?

From the E-Myth perspective, a business plan is flawed right from the start unless it’s based on the right intention. In order for a business plan to work—to truly be useful—it must be based on your business vision.

Your vision is your dream for the future of the business and the path you will take to make it a reality. No matter what stage of the business development cycle your business is in (infancy, adolescence, or maturity), as the leader of the organization, your vision should be absolutely clear, it should describe where you are going and what the destination will be like.

A business without a vision is directionless. It lacks purpose and heart. It lacks the essential idea from which commitment, growth and the sense of personal achievement arise and flourish.

The same holds true for a business plan created without vision. Your business plan is the link between the work of your business and the vision that work is intended to produce.

Your business plan needs your vision to make it come alive, to make it a reality. And similarly, your vision needs the form, direction, and clarity of a business plan to give it relevance to the day-to-day operation of your business.

The Traditional Business Plan

Writing a traditional business plan is usually precipitated by one of two thoughts: either 1) we’d better write a business plan because “that’s what successful businesses do,” or 2) we need to write a business plan if we want to go out and borrow some money.

Most business plans, therefore, are developed from a head-centered place. In other words, they’re analytical and they’re dry. They’re full of charts and graphs and cerebral motivation which don’t appeal to emotions at all. A plan that starts in the head, based purely on logic and reason, lacks passion, excitement and purpose.

As we all know, humans make choices based on emotions. That’s why we always advise, when attracting and converting new customers, to appeal to their emotional mind rather than their rational mind. It’s the emotional part of the mind that makes the buying decisions. Doesn’t it then make sense that your business plan should inspire that same kind of emotional “buy in” with your employees, lenders, investors etc.?

The Vision-Based Plan

In contrast, a business plan that’s based on your business vision is propelled forward because you want it to work, as the expression says, with all your heart. In fact, you can also think of it as a heart-centered plan.

Your vision-based business plan is a statement of your vision and a current description of the main strategies and tactics you’ll use to make your vision come true. From the strategies and tactics discussed in your plan, each department and position will be able to develop the additional strategies, tactics, and systems to achieve their results and, ultimately, the strategic objective of the company.

Here are some “productive points of view” about planning that will make it a truly worthwhile endeavor:

• Start with what’s important to you. A mediocre plan that you (and others) feel passionately about will serve you better than a technically superior plan that you don’t feel strongly about.
• Approach planning as more of an art than a science. Professionally-formatted plans with tons of quantification and data can give a false impression of certainty and precision. Use your best thinking when you plan, but don’t forget that even the best thinking involves educated guesswork.
• Create a planning framework that accommodates change. Don’t think of your plan as a rigid, “final product” with every detail pinned down. Think of it more as a series of guideposts of key topics to focus attention on and targets to aim for.
• Treat the plan as a living, growing document. Review it, evaluate it, and revise it. Keep questioning your assumptions. Stay flexible and open to change.

A traditional business plan simply won’t give you the results you want or need because nobody’s committed to working it. The business plan that always works may look a lot like the traditional business plan; you could put them side by side and not notice any difference. But their appearance is where the similarity ends. A business plan based on vision, enthusiasm and purpose will trump your traditional business plan every time.

By: Erin Duckhorn