Too many small businesses run at getting their business started only to discover what they're doing is completely wrong.

So then you might turn to a book on small business planning. Read it and feel incredibly discouraged because nothing in the book relates to anything in your world.

What you want is a small business plan that tells you what to do, not a document with meaningless numbers and irrelevant predictions of sales.

And why, because the business planning books are written to help you get financial backing. Even though your reality is you want to turn your idea into a real, live, customer collecting, revenue growing, profit machine which makes you feel cool and way more attractive.

Then you start believing planning is just for fortune 500 enterprises who need to find something to keep their employees off the streets. And jedi-warriors like you don't need plans.

Add then you're into the vicious cycle of no small business plan, no progress, frustration. So, you grab your journal, review your goals, get pumped up and plunge in head first. All over again!

You do require a plan. To turn your idea into a profitable small business a business plan is critical.

Any business plan needs to show you the way. It should highlight the steps you need to take right now.

And more significantly it'as purpose is to identify the biggest obstacle you need to deal with standing between you and your outcome.

And your plan should then provide the solution to overcome this obstacle, so you can move you bsuiness forward profitably.

Typically for most small businesses your plan will uncover a serious hole in your marketing skills initially. So you then amend your small business plan to include the steps to fill that hole.

So can you see your business plan isn't a one off exercise?

It's the core of your decision making and action taking focus. As you move forward and gather real results, it changes. That's it's mission for you. You can measure if you're on track or way off from the feedback.

So by now you will have realised in your aha moment that knowing how to construct a plan is more vital than the small business plan itself.

Understanding and using a planning process. A process which tells you what's stopping you getting to your goal and then helps you find the solution.

And then the planning breaksdown the solution into tangible actionable steps.

With each step implemented comes real results. That's your feedback.

Planning is ongoing. Any small business plan may only have a lifespan of a few days or weeks.

The skill of planning is missing in the majority of entrepreneurs and small business owners.

So a plan is non existant. And consequently they live a business life of frustration and wheel spinning.

Know how to put together a small business plan. Ensure planning is your number one priority.