My MBA students just finished up presenting their business plans last evening. Here are some lessons they learned about why the process of business planning is so important (beyond the obvious external reasons tied to financing):
- Business planning helps finds the things we don't know about the details -- attracting customers, staffing, managing inventory, and so forth.
- Business planning tests your desire, your passion and your resolve.
- Business planning helps to determine if all potential partners understand their roles, the time and financial commitment required, and the risk. It allows us to discover important points of disagreement or incompatibility before it is too late.
- Business planning can show us the true potential of the business -- sometimes this is a pleasant surprise and sometimes it is a real disappointment. If approached honestly and diligently, it is a true process of discovery.
- Business planning lays bare the holes in your business model, your team, available resources, and your implementation plans.
