Starting a business? Just fill in the blanks…

If you believe all the advertising hype on the internet about fill in the blank business plans, you’d think that’s really all there was to it. Fill in the blanks business plan, one-page business plan, connect the dots business plan, what’s next, the Crayola business plan? Let your child’s kindergarten class write your business plan with a box of 64 crayons!

Lest anyone misunderstand, let’s be clear: it’s not the business plan document, but the business planning that’s important. The problem is this; these types of documents are targeted at folks who don’t know what they are doing. And whatever preparation is suggested by people or groups perceived as “professionals” will set the maximum bar for preparation. So if you suggest that a startup can create a one-page or fill in the blanks business plan and sell them a template to do so, that’s all the research their writers are going to do. And just enough research to fill in a few blanks is just enough to get them into trouble.

I’m not talking about professional entrepreneurs working for existing or big-time startup companies. They aren’t the target audience for these business plan products in the first place. The target for these so-called business plan templates are inexperienced first-time entrepreneurs who don’t know what they’re doing. To suggest that they can put their business plan in a few blanks is just non-sense. This is a marketing scheme designed to make money on the gullible. Most of these people aren’t ready to be business owners. If they don’t do their research and just start a business, the likelihood of failure is even higher than it is in the first place. And with that rate running in excess of 75%, anyone suggesting that a newbie just fill in a few blanks is helping that person fail. It’s as simple as that.

Again, this isn’t about the business plan document. It’s about understanding your market and the trends that will affect how your market does business in the future. It’s about understanding your competition and how they do business. It’s about understanding your target customer and what they want. It’s about having some understanding of whether your model is even viable in the first place. And for many first-time entrepreneurs looking for the easiest way to get into business, they are going to do just enough research and planning as necessary to write a business plan and no more. Whose fault is that? It’s their fault. BUT, if you’re a professional consultant, incubator group, or author, and you suggest that these people can do it by filling in a few blanks, shame on you.  If you are a first-time entrepreneur, don’t fall for this hype. And if I may sort of paraphrase a famous quote by John Wayne: “Starting a business is hard, and it’s even harder if you’re stupid.”

Don’t be stupid. Do your homework. It’s your life’s savings we’re talking about. Don’t throw it away on a harebrained idea. Don’t throw it away because you didn’t bother to do a few hours’ worth of research. This idea and the associated products is just like everything else in this life that seems too good to be true. It’s not true!

 If you do your research, you can write a one paragraph business plan for all I care. Heck, you can skip writing the document all together, because that’s not what is important. The business plan document is just a way to communicate to others a summary of your plans and research. And seasoned business professionals and entrepreneurs understand all this. They will write a business plan document to support whatever their need; be it funding from investors or recruiting employees at a job fair. And responsible professionals will support this idea. There are plenty of groups helping entrepreneurs write a short and sweet business plan, in some cases a one pager, but it’s backed by research. In fact, it’s a one-page summary of your research and your business model. You know, that sounds an awful lot like an executive summary to me.