Just Do It

Yesterday I was engaged in a wonderful discussion. The common theme was "Just Do It". We allow ourselves to wait for the right time to do all kinds of things, but usually the time isn't right because we choose to procrastinate instead of act. There is comfort in procrastination, we make ourselves feel good with the idea that we plan to do something. We create the story that it isn't the right time or there isn't enough time, or whatever else we want to believe to be true. The truth is NOW is always the best time to do something.

I most commonly hear this when the topic of having a business plan comes up. For some reason there is a lot of resisitance to writing and following a business plan. Robin Bienemann (Chariman's View) recently spoke to our members on this topic. Robin explained the fundamentals of putting a plan together. Below are some exerpts of her talk.


What is a Plan?

1. Executive Summary (Mission of the company)
2. Company Description (What do you do)
3. Product or Service(describe your product)
4. Market Analysis (who are your customers)
5. Strategy and Implementation (how will you reach them)
6. Management Team (who will help you accomplish this)
7. Financial Analysis (How will your company support itself, and it's team

Who's the audience and what's it look like?

1. The Audience

• You
• Stakeholders - spouse, family, etc
• Investors - new or existing
• Suitors (potential buyers)

2. How Long? - depends on the audience

• Executive summary: 1 Page or less
• Investor summary: 4 - 5 pages
• Business Plan for a serious investor: 5- 10+ pages
• Internal/personal plan: 2 - 3 Pages Robin Bienemann(Chariman's View)

Unfortunately, it's the entrepreneur that doesn't have a business plan is the one who has the simplest one to write. We feel overwhelmed by the project, think we don't need one because we have all the information in our heads, business is growing to fast to keep up with it, ETC... You fill in the blank.

Whether it is writing and implementing a business plan, or something else on your To-Do list the best time to take action is NOW.