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| The Business Plan Process |
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This article had its origins as an internal memo.
A business plan is the written reflection of our interpretations from our clients and what we learn from our research. We write definitive statements in our business plans based on our understanding of what things are, how things work, what seems to make sense, and most important, our vision of how things will be.
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| The Starting Point: Q&A |
 Our starting point ... always our clients. We listen to what they say about their product, their technology, their industry, and their market. We ask lots of questions to crystallize our understanding, to point out inconsistencies, to dig deeper. (Sometimes our clients don't like being questioned, and sometimes they don't like being challenged, but we explain that writing a business plan is a process, and an iterative one at that.)
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| Taking Shape: The Essence of a Company |
Seeing the essence of the company translated into definitive statements has a jarring effect on our clients. Written statements may conjure an image that is incongruous with that harbored by the client. More typically, however, is that as the sections of the business plan take shape, the company's management realizes they are not of one mind; each manager has a different impression, a different vision, a different concept of the company.
Seeing things in black and white often causes the company management to question
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the company vision and mission,
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the timing of activity,
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the company's approach to market,
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the target market,
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the definition of the company's product (and its features and advantages),
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the positioning of the product or company, and
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what the company wants to be when it grows up.
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 These are just some of the issues that clients often have not thought through completely or seen expressed in writing. They become points of contention for discussion and revision in the course of the business plan preparation process — even for clients that are absolutely certain they have all the answers. While we are typically accurate in our interpretation of the client's initial input (although we admit that sometimes our words are wrong or our articulation is inaccurate), issues that were clear sometimes become uncertain and are a cause for re-evalution.
The business plan draft then evolves into a platform for discussion, self-examination, and decision-making — a sounding board for each individual of the management team to express his or her point of view. Suddenly what was an urgent I-have-to-have-it-tomorrow document screeches to a halt as critical issues are reconsidered or there are changes in direction.
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| Expecting the Unexpected: Lessons from the First Draft I |
When we deliver a first draft — and more often than not, the first draft has holes, sections of information missing — we brace ourselves. Why? Because responses are usually tinged with disappointment: "It's just wrong." "I didn't say that." "I didn't mean that." "It has to be changed." As with any process, there are expectations at every stage. The first draft is no different.
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Expect it to take longer than you think. Every time we rewrite to incorporate changes of direction or thought, it adds time.
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Expect differences. What we heard and documented (remember it's our interpretation) was likely correct — just not what the clients meant or decided they wanted after seeing it in print.
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Expect time-outs. When confronted with 12 to 15 pages written pages, clients may need time to digest the first draft and reconsider company definition and direction.
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Expect moving goalposts. In spite of clients stating that only a short list of issues should be explored in the plan, the list often changes after the first draft.
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Expect zigzags. Client should use the business plan as a platform for decision-making and as a focus on positioning and strategies rather than on operations.
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| Continuing Forward: Lessons from the First Draft II |
Perhaps the most important lesson we have learned over the years, and one that our clients only understand after the fact: The second draft often looks and sounds entirely different than the first!
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The Trendletter team welcomes your comments.
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The Trendlines Group
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Phone: +972.4.958.3323 | postmaster@trendlines.com
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