Business Planning Pitfalls

1. Create a vision. It can be very enticing to just dive right into the details of your business and forget about the long-term vision that you first came up with. With the fast pace of start-up businesses, try never to lose sight of your initial vision.
   
   Before you get lost in all the details, take a step back. Set aside time every few weeks to outline a coherent set of values for your company. Make sure you identify what the vision is. Sometimes the vision goes through changes due to changing market conditions.
   
   
2. Finance and Budget You can't create a good solid business plan without a serious budget and financial forecast. If you are familiar with the industry of your business, then you will have a more accurate picture of your customers, competitors and market conditions.
   
   
3. Customers are the key. This may sound obvious, but way too many entrepreneurs assume they know exactly what their customers need and want without bothering to ask them. Definitely take time to learn about your customers. Sometimes all this requires is just chatting with them over a nice lunch. This will give you a leg up on the direction of your business plan.
   
   
4. Don't underestimate the competition. If you assume your company will be the only game in town, or if you fail to take existing competitors seriously, you're asking for trouble. Your competitors can be a great source of information about what works and what doesn't.
   
   
5. Be ready to take risks. Creating a business plan isn't about avoiding risk; it's about understanding and managing risk. That's why a good business plan anticipates possible challenges and includes a variety of scenarios for meeting those challenges. There's a difference between a calculated risk and recklessness, and your plan can help you make that distinction.
   
   
6. Get multiple opinions. The most experienced entrepreneur can still benefit from a different point of view. Even if you're the only person involved in your business, find someone who can study your plan objectively and point out possible weaknesses you might have missed.
   
   
7. Play Devil's Advocate. Every business plan needs some wiggle room to allow for unexpected changes. Part of this involves creating budgets and marketing plans with some built-in flexibility; but adapting to change also requires you to accept that you might have to modify or even abandon business practices that worked well in the past.
   
   
8. Don't forget what makes you unique. A cookie-cutter business plan might help you get started, but it won't help you succeed. And while it helps to look at your competitors, don't model your business after them. After all, you're in business to beat the competition. Learn from your competitors' strengths, but also learn how to spot their weaknesses and use them to improve your own business plan.
   
   
9. What's the point? Building a business involves hard work and struggle. But it should also include a clear set of rewards, both for you and your employees. When you set goals in your business plan, include some concrete motivation that goes beyond the satisfaction of a job well done.
   
   
10. Don't skip the plan! Of course, the biggest mistake of all is failing to create a business plan in the first place. Planning is hard work, and there's no guarantee it will make your business succeed. But a good plan is still the best way to turn your vision into a realistic, coherent business.