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What Is The Importance of a Written Business Plan?
by Melissa Vokoun - © Melissa Vokoun - 2007

I would like you to image for a moment that you are walking out of your front door today and you have a destination in mind – but no idea of how you are going to get there, when you will arrive, what method of transportation you are going to use, or if you will be able to reach your destination with what you have in your hand, on your back, or in your briefcase. The idea of taking a journey of this nature is so unlikely that you may decide to stop reading this article now. But I ask you to bear with me just one moment longer. The trip I have just described is exactly what occurs when an entrepreneur or dedicated team or group of like-minded and dedicated individuals start a business without first committing to a written business plan.

The greatest ideas in the world may have never been put to use or seen the light of day in the marketplace not because of lack of vision, but because of lack of direction and definition. If having a written business plan is all that it is cracked up to being, then why don’t more people just sit down and write one? The answer is usually wrapped up in fear. It is easier to take the trip into business without a set goal and direction that someone might actually hold us accountable for than to just start out and see what happens. If we are incredibly lucky, the lack of business plan will not hold us back – or will it?

I would have to respond that with my experiences in business for over 25 years, it is exactly the lack of business plans in several of my endeavors that have cursed the success that I so longed to achieve. I believed success without a road map was inevitable as long as I believed in the vision, the goal, and ultimately the prize. In looking back, I can now see many places along the way that I should have stopped and written that plan with the same dedication and passion that was reflected in my work to grow a business or reach a goal.

When I ask myself why I chose that “short cut” along the way, I can see that it was either the fear of success, fear of failure, fear of falling short of the goals that would have been staring me in the face that caused me to lose my nerve when I should have been taking precious time to formalize my goals, desires, processes, and plans.

I now have formal, written business plans for the small business ventures that I am involved in. These are my road map for the future and my foundation for the present. In the process of writing these business plans, I now realize that they are NOT written in stone – and if I am mindful of the time and place and circumstances of when they were written and I can navigate through the detours that can occur with the best of planning, then I will be able to can modify and adjust my business plan so that my journey on the road to success will be smooth sailing!

Bon Voyage!

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Melissa Vokoun is a successful Business Advisor and Trainer. She has dedicated her career to helping provide support and advice for entrepreneurs and small business for over 25 years. She has a diverse knowledge of the issues and needs of business owners obtained from 1983-2005 as co-founder of a national telecom equipment distributor. She started working with organizations offering Business, Marketing, Operational, Financial, and Administrative support with an experienced professional team -- NuVo Partners, Inc and Successful Business Advisors. For more information, please visit the website at: http://www.nuvo-partners.com or call 847-392-6886 for more information.

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