Comments on: Business Plans Are Bullshit

By: Youre a genius

Youre a genius — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:53:54 +0000

i love this piece! Its very motivating and so true. Years go by THINKING of an idea. People should just do it. :)

By: Shawn Darbin

Shawn Darbin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 07:59:32 +0000

I am currently employed at BargainBusinessPlan.com, upon following up with many of our clients after providing them a business plan. I am willing to bet Business Plan’s are a lot more useful than you may believe. Some current/potential business owners simply have a difficult time organizing ideas and planning out a strategy. Why spend so much time and effort from your busy schedule trying to come up with graphs, running marketing analysis, figuring out the target market and demographics when you can simply pay someone $250 and have them do it for you? Business Plan’s aren’t bullshit, however they are definitely time consuming. I have spoke to many clients who have purchased business plan programs trying to create their own, in the end they come to us to create them a business plan and regret ever attempting to create their own as they wasted not only their money but their limited time. I bookmarked your blog, thank you.

Best,

Shawn D.

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:46:36 +0000

Cool, thanks for sharing the link Chris. Nice looking Blog.

By: Chris - Manager's Sandbox

Chris - Manager's Sandbox — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 14:25:48 +0000

Brian,

Sorry I missed your reply to this a few weeks ago. My current blog, Manager’s Sandbox, was up and running in 3 weeks. I wrote a 2 paragraph business plan in about 15 minutes and then went to work. You can read about my experience here: http://managerssandbox.com/take-the-leap-start-your-own-business-in-your-spare-time/

Great resource here – thanks for everything!

- Chris

By: Entrepreneurs don’t worry about the economy. We have busines to do…

Entrepreneurs don’t worry about the economy. We have busines to do… — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 14:00:58 +0000

[...] why business plans are bullshit and you shouldn’t borrow money to start a business… The best businesses in recent [...]

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:27:00 +0000

Thanks Gopal!

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:25:49 +0000

Good points John. It may work for some people. I think it’s valuable to understand financial statements and what not for sure. I guess the reason why I prefer this route is that I don’t see a shortage of people with good ideas. I more often see a shortage of people actually taking action on their ideas. So I’m more of the school of thought that people should stop thinking so much about doing something and just actually do it.

But there certainly is a time and place for formal biz plans. Hope you enjoy the site and thanks for stopping by!

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:21:10 +0000

I would agree. If you need to ask for money then you probably need to put something more formal together. But even in that case, it could probably be much simpler that most people imagine.

Famous VC Guy Kawasaki says “most of the plans that we see at Garage are too long and too detailed—to the point of reducing credibility”

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/is_a_business_p.html

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:09:40 +0000

Thanks :) I try to entertain myself so glad I’m not the only one.

By: Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:27:11 +0000

Good point satollo. In projects that require large capital investments it’s probably worth putting a more traditional biz plan together.