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<P><FONT COLOR="#BBBBBB" FACE="Arial, Helvetica"><I><B>Business Planning</B></I></FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CC3300" FACE="Arial, Helvetica"><B>Why Small Business Plans
don’t work</B></FONT></P>
<P>We see lots of Business Plans in our work with small business. Every once in a
while we may see one that stands a chance of working, but not very often. Most are
little more than a frustrating, disheartening waste of time, energy, hope, money
and resources. And they become a constant, silent reproach to the business owner,
because they just sit there, gathering dust, unable to be properly implemented.</P>
<P>It’s not that they <B>won’t</B> work. They <B>CAN’T</B> work!</P>
<P>It’s not just the fact that they’re dull, boring and useless, either. They’re
downright <I>dangerous</I>, for four very important reasons:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>1. They undermine your faith in the planning process, which is indispensable to
small business survivial and prosperity.</P>
<P>2. They undermine your confidence in yourself.</P>
<P>3. When you try to make them work, you end up doing things for the <I>wrong reasons</I>.(Whether
they’re the right things or the wrong things to do doesn’t really matter. If you
do them for the <B>wrong</B> <B>reasons</B>, you <B>can’t</B> succeed. It’s that
simple.)</P>
<P>4. They’re based on BIG business models and methods, which often have little or
no relevance to small business.</P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P>If you haven’t yet read the following pages, I recommend that you do so now, before
proceeding. They’ll help you make a lot more sense of the information in this section.
Return here by clicking “<B>Start here</B>” in the Contents frame.</P>
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="../SmallBiz/Corp/why.html" target="LinkWindow"><B>Why we do what we
do</B></A> (especially the comments on <I>the Secret of Small Business Success)</I>
<LI><A HREF="../SmallBiz/ResInfo/DntGo/SBvsBB.html" target="LinkWindow"><B>Small
Business versus BIG Business</B></A>
</UL>
<P>The first reason why most small business Business Plans can’t and don’t work is
that they’re the wrong things, done for the wrong reasons. Here’s a short, short
list of WRONG reasons for preparing a Business Plan. There are plenty of others just
like them. (You’ll find the right reason on the next page… “<B>Why do you need a
Business Plan at all?</B>”)</P>
<UL>
<LI>Your accountant recommends that you should have one
<LI>Your banker insists on you supplying one with a loan application
<LI>You read or heard somewhere about how important they are
<LI>Your competitor has one
<LI>That short course on Small Business Management helped you do one
</UL>
<P>Almost every small business Business Plan we see is based on BIG business planning
models and methods. There are all kinds of reasons why they won’t work in small business,
but the most important reason is that they create the wrong perspectives which, in
turn, create the wrong attitudes and behaviour for small business success.</P>
<P>There’s a widespread assumption amongst small business people that BIG business
knows what it’s doing. In part, that’s true. But only when it comes to doing BIG
business — not <FONT SIZE="2">small</FONT> business. But even then, it ends up doing
the wrong things for the wrong reasons — and creating widespread suspicion and resentment
of its motives and methods.</P>
<P>You can’t afford those kinds of negative perceptions.</P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER">
<SPACER TYPE="VERTICAL" SIZE="6">
Next page… <FONT COLOR="#000077"><B>“</B></FONT><A HREF="../SmallBiz/BizPlan/WhyPlan.html"><B>Why
do you need a Business Plan at all?</B></A><FONT COLOR="#000077"><B>”<BR>
</B></FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#DD0000" FACE="Arial, Helvetica"><B>FREE
OFFER…</B></FONT></P>
<P><FONT COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial, Helvetica">Download 12 articles by John Counsel
on SMALL Business Planning, FREE. Includes a special offer. </FONT><A HREF="../SmallBiz/Freebies/Index.html"
target="Freebies"><FONT FACE="Arial, Helvetica"><B>Click here</B></FONT></A><FONT
COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial, Helvetica">!</FONT></P>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#777777" FACE="Helvetica, Arial">©1997 The Profit Clinic.
All rights reserved. This page updated 21 November 2000.</FONT></P>
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