WizArticleElite Article Directory

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.

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 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.

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 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”.