We are generally an optimistic people.  We tend to believe that the best is yet to come.  And, entrepreneurs- they are really optimistic.  After all, if they didn’t expect things to work out- and work out well- why would they spend any time attempting to build a new venture?

But, way too many an entrepreneur relies exclusively on that optimism.  They fail to plan.  And, the adage- if you fail to plan, you plan to fail- is generally true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDjutAUhnDg

Consider the current Prudential commercial.   Folks are asked to place different color magnets on a board representing something significant that happened to them in the past five years.  And, then, place a magnet on another board for what they think will be their future.

Well, the “past” board was about evenly split between good and bad things that happened.  And, the future- well, it was almost universally good.  Yup.  There’s that optimistic streak again.

But, in reality, we are just as likely to have setbacks in the future, as we are likely to succeed.

Which is exactly why we need a business plan for our new ventures.  Not one that details all those great things we plan to achieve.  But one that describes what we do expect- and what to do when things don’t quite work out the way we hope.

And, by having the plan, we can measure our results against it.  To insure that when we don’t quite make the mark, we can adjust our actions (hopefully, as we anticipated, so we can turn on a dime) to insure the success for which we hope.

There’s a lot we can learn from commercials after all.

 

 

Check out our website for some resources on planning your business growth.