Stairway Consulting Inc.

Most of the time it’s a combination of poor objective planning and mismanagement after inception.   80% never make it to year 3.  Its very easy to get wrapped up in the motion of starting a business and really wanting it to succeed…”knowing” it will succeed.  But as some French dude said (Antoine de Saint-Exupery) a goal without a plan is just a wish. 

I have developed and reviewed over 300 business plans and I consistently find that most prospective new business owners that prepare a business plan (if they do actually prepare a business plan) have already decided the plan will show the business to be successful even before they conduct the research or run the numbers. 

How often have I heard “I have the business ready to go, now I just need to do up a plan for the bank so I can fund it.”  I do realize that plans for banks are uniquely different from an operational business plan but let’s be clear – completing a business plan is supposed to be what determines whether you have a business at all, not merely a document to obtain funding for what you have already decided will work based on what you think the bank will want to hear.

Planning doesn’t just stop there either.  The plan should be revised into some sort of Objectives, Strategies and Budget document every year.