So do you have a plan?
Yesterday, a friend of mine was talking to me about quitting my job to run my business full time. He asked me "so do you have a plan as far as what you are going to do with the business?" What I replied was "yes, I have a business plan" but that wasn't what I was thinking. The first thing that went through my head was - no, of course not. I quit my job to run my business but I have no clue what I'm doing. All of the success that SportsLizard.com has had thus far has been complete luck - not a function of hard work and good planning at all.
Sarcasm aside, I am getting frustrated with all of the questions. I am trying to handle them as best as I can, but it gets annoying when people ask questions that are either totally irrelevant or completely insult my intelligence. Based on what I've heard/read from other entrepreneurs is that it will never stop. Especially from friends and family, no matter how much you achieve. This isn't the first time I've mentioned this and it probably won't be the last. Over time I'll learn to deal with it (I hope), but for now it still makes me want to bang my head against a wall until I can't feel pain anymore.
My friends question did get me thinking about the importance of my business plan.
Since the time that I decided I wanted to start a business I have met dozens of other business owners with different levels of experience ranging from just starting their first business to being an angel investor (a private investor who invests in companies, similar to venture capitalists but working on their own as opposed to being part of a firm).
The one common theme that everyone has echoed is to have a business plan. A business plan is not just a document that you write to get funding for your business and then file away in a drawer. A business plan is a living document that should be revisited and edited frequently to reflect the current state of your business.
What I did for SportsLizard.com was write a complete business plan before I began. The business was self funded so the sole purpose was to have a plan to work from. Once a year I completely re-write that business plan to reflect the achievements and failures in the past year, as well as industry changes that will effect my business.
From this main plan, I developed an operations plan, which is nothing more than a list of tasks broken down by function (site programming, marketing, operations). Each task helps move the business toward achieving the major goals outlined in the business plan. If something you are doing ISN'T helping you meet your goals, then why are you doing it? Keeping an up to date business plan helps maintain the focus necessary to avoid the non value added tasks.
On a completely unrelated topic, I will be rooting for the Seahawks today. I have no real allegiance to either team but I am just sick of Joey Porter running his mouth so I want to see him lose (this is what I do when I don't particularly love either team, I pick a reason to hate one of them. Thank you Joey for your illogical and uneducated rants - you made it easy this time).
Sarcasm aside, I am getting frustrated with all of the questions. I am trying to handle them as best as I can, but it gets annoying when people ask questions that are either totally irrelevant or completely insult my intelligence. Based on what I've heard/read from other entrepreneurs is that it will never stop. Especially from friends and family, no matter how much you achieve. This isn't the first time I've mentioned this and it probably won't be the last. Over time I'll learn to deal with it (I hope), but for now it still makes me want to bang my head against a wall until I can't feel pain anymore.
My friends question did get me thinking about the importance of my business plan.
Since the time that I decided I wanted to start a business I have met dozens of other business owners with different levels of experience ranging from just starting their first business to being an angel investor (a private investor who invests in companies, similar to venture capitalists but working on their own as opposed to being part of a firm).
The one common theme that everyone has echoed is to have a business plan. A business plan is not just a document that you write to get funding for your business and then file away in a drawer. A business plan is a living document that should be revisited and edited frequently to reflect the current state of your business.
What I did for SportsLizard.com was write a complete business plan before I began. The business was self funded so the sole purpose was to have a plan to work from. Once a year I completely re-write that business plan to reflect the achievements and failures in the past year, as well as industry changes that will effect my business.
From this main plan, I developed an operations plan, which is nothing more than a list of tasks broken down by function (site programming, marketing, operations). Each task helps move the business toward achieving the major goals outlined in the business plan. If something you are doing ISN'T helping you meet your goals, then why are you doing it? Keeping an up to date business plan helps maintain the focus necessary to avoid the non value added tasks.
On a completely unrelated topic, I will be rooting for the Seahawks today. I have no real allegiance to either team but I am just sick of Joey Porter running his mouth so I want to see him lose (this is what I do when I don't particularly love either team, I pick a reason to hate one of them. Thank you Joey for your illogical and uneducated rants - you made it easy this time).
posted by Adam McFarland at
2/05/2006 02:59:00 PM
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