I wrote last week about the need for a personal plan We all need a little focus, direction, map to guide our activities. Not something to tell us what to do today, that would be a calendar or organizer. No, that's not what I mean. I mean we need some thought and a few notes on what we want to accomplish.Well, here's the bad news. You need a business plan too. It's bad news to most because planning seems like a hassle, too formal and academic. In reality, it doesn't have to be formal or academic, in fact, it's best if it's informal and realistic - organized thoughts, ideas, facts, and planned activity to grow a profitable business.

I've worked with people who don't believe in business planning at all - I follow my gut - and I've never seen one succeed. Everyone I've witnessed follow their gut and scoff at business planning has failed. Every single one. The reason is because they have no compass to guide them and no plan to reflect on to measure progress. They loose without knowing why and equally as dangerous, they momentarily win without a clue as to how to sustain it. They're stood on the railroad tracks and never saw the train coming...they didn't make time to look for it and instead decided to walk blindly down the track following their gut.

The good news is you already know quite a bit of what you need to know to write your plan. You know your customer, market, pricing, competition, finances, etc. Although you know a lot, you don't know all. And that's the point of having a plan. The plan makes you think of everything you don't know and gives you reason to evaluate your next steps and odds of success. If you can't make it work on paper, you can't make it work in real life.

Here's even better news. Once you have a plan, all you have to do is follow it. Sounds simple? It is.

Although having a great business plan doesn't guarantee success, it increases your odds of success. And what is more important in your professional life than having a successful business and career?

There are a thousand reasons to write a business plan and countless excuses to not have one. A more important question is what is the downside of having a business plan? Go write one.