Common Business Plan Mistakes

June 15, 2004

While including the necessary items in a business plan is important, you also want to make sure you don’t commit any of the following common business plan mistakes:

Putting it off.

Don't wait to write your plan until you think you’ll have enough time. "I can't plan. I'm too busy getting things done," business people say. The busier you are, the more you need to plan. If you are always putting out fires, you should build firebreaks or a sprinkler system. You can lose the whole forest for paying too much attention to the individual burning trees.

Cash flow casualness.

Idea inflation.

Plans don't sell new business ideas to investors. People do. Investors invest in people, not ideas. The plan, though necessary, is only a way to present information.

Fear and dread.

Spongy, vague goals.

One size fits all.

Diluted priorities.

Hockey-stick shaped growth projections.

Options