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9

Business Planning:

Creating the Future You

Want, Step by Step

n our consulting business we speak to a lot of managers, from
Ifor-profit businesses to non-profit organizations. They are
busier today than ever before, it seems, and we find more fre-
quent use of planning on both sides. Yet in spite of the apparent
trend toward greater use of business planning methods, a com-
mon refrain is often heard from harried business managers:
“We’re too busy running our company to do formal business
planning.” Even startup CEOs who are creating a whole new
company are prone to add, “If potential investors want to look at
something, we’ll do a plan for them, but we certainly don’t need
one ourselves. We’re clear about where we’re going and we don’t
have the interest or the spare time to write it on paper.”
Thus begins still another chapter in the myths of business
planning. Table 9-1 includes some of my personal favorites.

Why Take Time to Plan?
Every organization with a goal in mind will develop a plan to get
there. Every manager with a job to do will develop a plan to get

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