CHAPTER 17

Everybody Knows the Future

(Is Planning Overrated?)

Planning Is Not Important

When entrepreneurs come to me for financial assistance (like capital investments), I ask them to provide me with their business plan, but not the one that predicts the future because everyone “knows” the future. I ask them to show me their business plans from the past 3 years and I review how they fared.

If their results are compatible with their predictions, I have a higher confidence level that they will achieve future predictions. On the other hand, if they show poor compliance with their past planning targets, this might be reflected in their “future” business plans too.

The bottom line: A business plan is not written for outsiders unless they are gullible ...

Get Business Decision Making, Second Edition, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.