I am currently doing a government business program. One of the first things that was required was an incredibly detailed, overengineered (IMO) business plan.
For me, these sorts of plans don’t help me succeed. In many ways, the plan was obsolete before it was even finished! But it ticked the boxes.
I knew from the outset this wouldn’t help me, mostly because I have run a previous business without one.
Another reason is that my brain interprets a business plan as a demand, and also thinks it’s something that must be adhered to. It’s not seen as a guide, it’s seen as law, so I feel like a failure if the plan doesn’t work.
The main reason is that my life tends to evolve. Things happen and opportunities present themselves that I never would have seen coming.
One example is the writers’ groups. These all started because I said yes to an opportunity that I wouldn’t have seen coming. I hadn’t published a book, I didn’t think I was a teacher, I wasn’t all that experienced, yet I’ve now worked with hundreds of kids inspiring them to write stories.
If I had had a ‘business plan’, this wouldn’t have been something I would have considered.
All the thinking of niches and target markets and competitors don’t help when you’re not fixed on what it is that your business does.
I know that I want to inspire others to love stories, both writing them and reading them.
I want to talk to neurodivergent kids and teens, and let them know that they aren’t broken, the message I wish someone had told me when I was younger.
I want to be able to share what I know to others, even if it’s about bookkeeping tips for authors.
The things I want to do don’t fit neatly into boxes.
I also know that I don’t know what fits me and suits my brain until I give it a try.
I keep being told that I’m being difficult for not planning my business… but I’m not. I’m working to make my business work for me, instead of being something that suits other people.
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