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1. The Business Plan - Entrepreneur's Straitjacket
Business Planning
The Business Plan
- Entrepreneur's
Straitjacket

2. The Business Plan - Entrepreneur's Straitjacket
Business Planning
For strategic insights on how you can develop a business plan that will get you the
funding and business support you deserve, Click here.
This is the 6th article in a continuing series of The
Business Plan for Small and Mid-Sized Companies.
By definition, the entrepreneur is a person who habitually
creates and innovates to build something of recognized
value around perceived opportunities
Much has been written about the independent
entrepreneur's behavior and management style; -
visionary, confident, dedicated, determined, focused, self
reliant, intuitive, impulsive, and yes, "shoot-from the hip"
and "fire, ready aim", has generally exemplified the recent
contemporary entrepreneur.
There have always been questions surrounding the
entrepreneur's management style and response to
operational adversities.

3. The Business Plan - Entrepreneur's Straitjacket
Business Planning
During the 30 years as hands- on operating manager and
Business and Marketing Planning Consultant, I spent
considerable time working with and consulting to a range
of entrepreneurs, in start-up situations and in ongoing
operating organizations.
I have concluded that entrepreneurs are more amendable
to develop a Business Plan when "courting" startup
financing; due to the restraints of most start up financing
resources, i.e. venture capital, banks, SBA etc.
In these situations, my start-up entrepreneurs were
extremely bright, articulate and driven. But in my
experience, they tended to "resist or fight" the necessary
planning process structure in favor of "jumping right in"
with their "quick fix" product and market solutions,
oftentimes, negating the more deliberative process.
On the other hand, I have been privy to and involved with
entrepreneurial run companies in their growth and
maturing phases, when suddenly beset by external
environmental forces beyond the entrepreneurs control,,(
i.e. competition, economic slowdown, technological

4. The Business Plan - Entrepreneur's Straitjacket
Business Planning
impacts, etc). literally shocked their "my way"
management style and culture.
To an outsider, it would be obvious that the entrepreneur
manager should be flexible and immediately adapt the
prevailing "best practices" tools available to deal with the
changing environment. Logic would certainly dictate that.
However, I found, in several instances that the
entrepreneur manager further stiffened his resolve in the
stereotypically mindset and behavior of the entrepreneur.
In these circumstances the individual determined not to
give up control, became too obsessed with day to day
detail management stifling creativity and diluting staff
morale. And responded with alarming "shoot from the hip"
tactics.
Fortunately, it took an external force to intervene and
demand that a Business Plan be prepared to rapidly
reverse the situation. In this case, a member of the
outside Board of Directors demanded and received the
necessary cooperation.

5. The Business Plan - Entrepreneur's Straitjacket
Business Planning
In retrospect, it is not surprising, with entrepreneur
management, at the helm guiding the "rocket ride" in a
fast track, high growth company; to be unable or unwilling
to prepare for a sudden onset of adversity; for the
entrepreneur business model mindset was up and up and
up.
In today's uncertain economic environment caused by the
Recession, the next wave of entrepreneurs must rethink
their personal objections to the guiding principles,
processes and practices of developing a Business Plan for
Small Business to take their business to the Next Level.
I have long thought that the Business Planning Process
was the mother's milk of "overcoming adversity".
For strategic insights on how you can develop a business plan that will get you the
funding and business support you deserve, Click here.

6. The Business Plan - Entrepreneur's Straitjacket
Business Planning
Bernard C. Steiner is an independent (B2B) Planning Consultant specializing in developing and
writing Strategic Business and Marketing Plans for clients. He has over 30 years as a "hands-on"
Operating Manager and as a B2B Business and Marketing Planning Consultant. Bernard holds a
Degree in Electrical Engineering (BEE) and a Masters in Marketing (MBA).
http://www.bcsplanningconsulting.com
917-686-8251
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