This article discusses how some businesses are opting to forgo a traditional business plan and instead take their idea straight to the masses, adjusting their strategy or product based on feedback from users. The article highlights the pros and cons to such an approach, positing that it may work more successfully for tech start-ups than more traditional small businesses. This article reminded me of the discussion we had last week regarding the importance of focusing on what the customer actually wants and the need to incorporate that into your business plan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/business/smallbusiness/business-plans-for-start-ups.html?_r=0
A good observation. And it follows on the heels of what VCs have insisted upon for about a decade now – specifically that they don’t want a traditional business plan, but DO want to see “proof of concept” – i.e., can you build it? Can you sell it (do people actually want it)? How big is the market? Do you have the team and the resources to grow the business?
They feel like they can get the answers they need in a a handful of slides, rather than 40 pages of financial statements. They’ll ask for those later.