I’ll claim the necessary propensity to rapidly adjust your new business strategy is inversely proportional to the time you invest in writing a traditional business plan.

The more you invest in a business plan the less likely you’ll be willing to adjust.  Don’t let a plan weigh you down. It is more important that, as you enter the market and learn, you be willing to adjust… no matter what “the plan” said.

The most important thing you can do is learn from your customers.  As the leader of your startup your job is to then filter that information and adjust strategy as needed.  If you’re “married” to a plan you’ll hesitate when you should quickly move in a new direction.

Writing a business plan can be a good exercise.  It helps you think through your approach to the market and how to describe your offering. Whatever you put in that plan will be wrong so don’t treat it like the gospel.  It’s an exercise, not a panacea.

Good investors understand this too.  If they don’t, the weight of that plan doubles.

Image courtesy of Jen Waller