A Business Plan is the essential document we are all meant to have right? So why do so many of us not have one?

The principle behind having a business plan is to think strategically about how to grow our business, create new direction and organise our thoughts:

What am I going to do?
Why?
When does it all have to happen?
What resources will I need?
What could get in the way of success?
How can I minimise the chances of that happening?

The principal challenge with traditional business plans lies not in the subject matter or the content, but in their format.

The majority of business plans are static documents, comprised of lists and columns with actions and dates. There is a proportion of the population that like to manage their work in this way and they thrive on using the traditional business plan format. But the reality is that most entrepreneurs are entrepreneurial (funny that!) and most entrepreneurs hate using lists! Lists dont really reflect our way of thinking, creating or managing information.

We need a process that reflects the flexible and dynamic way we approach business. It is this ability that sets us apart from our larger, slower competitors.

The Project Management Approach

The project management based approach to business planning represents information in a much more flexible way, using mind maps or dynamic lists. Essentially your thinking is represented in small and large chunks, and grouped by area or project.

Let me demonstrate with a genuine example. My whiteboard contains all of my current and planned activities split into 3 areas this week, medium term and long term.

My overall aims and goals for the business are listed on the right side. These dont change much but they are always there in front of me to keep me focused on what is important. The middle of the board contains my longer term projects (3 months or more ), such as developing alliances and approaching magazines to write for articles. The left side contains the major activities to complete this week.

Every Monday I think about what activity needs to happen to progress my medium and long term goals. These go in the weekly side of the board. I also include any other things that need to happen during the week, refreshing each list as I need to. During the week - if new things come up - they go straight up into the appropriate area.

You can use mind maps in a similar way. Put your long term goals in the centre, your medium term goals along each arm, and the detailed activity as the final level. Then cross things off or add new arms as things arise. You can group your activities by topic, immediacy or any other way that suits you.

The key difference with this method of managing your work is that

a) Its always in front of you, not locked up in a drawer,
b) its easy to add and subtract from the plan as you go, and
c) its actually practical and fun to work with

You still need to think strategically, and be organised about your work. But you dont need to feel guilty about not having a traditional business plan!

If youre not a list person, give this method a try. I think youll get a lot more out of it.