Is a Business Plan Important

I have always been taught that you have to have a business plan in order to make it as an entrepreneur.  I have been taught if you do not have a plan you do not have way.  I still believe in order to have a successful business you need you have some type of plan, but it does not have to be the old 40-150 pages that use to be the standard for a business plan. There is an article that has two experts debate the importance of having a business plan and why it is not important to have a business plan. David F. McPhee, partner at law firm Perkins Coie says absolutely, and Will Hsu co-founder of MuckerLab says absolutely not.

The two experts were asked a few questions that pertain to why you should or shouldn’t you have a business plan.  Both experts have valid points, and actually both experts are somewhat saying the same thing but in different ways.  McShea says having a business plan can help a person realize if their idea is really worth starting because a lot of business ideas sound good until a person actually writes it down. McShea believes that a person can save a lot of money by writing this down, and save on payroll or investments.  Hsu believes the best way to get started is take your product to the market, and let your customer base and target market let you know where you need to go.  Hsu believes that an entrepreneur should not waste valuable time on putting a business plan together, but take that time talking to customers and finding how to improve their product and pricing for the market.  I believe both experts have a valid point because some people can get tied up on the small details in a business plan, and this can keep a person off track on the ultimate goal, which is to start up a successful business. 

McShea believes that having a business plan will attract investors, while Hsu feels having a simple plan, but being able to show your bottom line will be more attractive to investors.  Hsu feels that an investor wants a plan that will be 10-15 pages, and not the usually 40-page business plan.  Hsu feels that investors do not want to get caught up in the fluff of a long business plan.  I agree with both McShea and Hsu when it comes to a business plan.  I believe in K.I.S.S, keep it simple stupid.  I agree with McShea that every new business needs a business plan, and I agree with Hsu that it needs to be simple, and not to spend so much time on a plan that you do not spend the needed time with your customer.