A famed book by Stephen Covey highlights one habit that makes individuals and organizations succeed – begin with the end in mind. This is a very good answer to the question “why write a business plan”? It is tempting to put up a business and have a see-what-happens-next approach towards its management, twitching things along the way and be flexible enough to the challenges of running a business. But the truth is, even though that sounds simpler than drafting an exhaustive plan in paper, it can really get complicated – fast. In fact a business without a business plan is, put bluntly, a business that is planning to fail. A business must be intentional, and nothing can facilitate this better than having a written plan of what the business is all about, its direction, its goals, and its ultimate purpose. This will serve as the glue for the stakeholders of the business, a point of agreement on how the business should be run, and the route it would take to realize its profit targets.

It is simply impossible to grow a business if there is no tangible point of reference to where the business should go. Vision, mission, objectives and values of the business are all included in the drafting of the business plan, thereby making it possible for organizations to have objective metrics of performance. It is only then changes and adjustments can be effectively implemented. You simply cannot improve what you cannot measure.

Writing a business plan is important because it allows a business to sell itself better to its customers. The business plan is a 360 profile of your business model, giving you a bird’s eye view of what you can offer to your clients. Marketing would not be as hard because the point of differentiation and the niche market you want to develop overtime can be clearly seen. You can identify your competitive advantages and then capitalize on that exhaustively. It can also bolster your positioning efforts because you understand the strengths of your services or products. You can simply develop strategies that puts you in the best spot to both retain and attract new customers.

Why write a business plan? One of the most profound answers to this question is to be able to get the right people to run the business. It is of course a well established fact that a business is as good as the people that leads it to greatness. Well, you can have the best of the best in the field, but if they do not fit in, they are doomed to fail in establishing your organization as an industry leader. A business plan can help you implement a very good human capitalization effort. This simply means you are able to identify the right person for the job and then help that person identify himself with the job, and then the business.

Many small and medium enterprises downplay the question of why write a business plan. And this is the reason why many fail to reach its growth projections. Do you want your business to run smoothly? First things first. Write a business plan!