I LOATHE business plans!!!

The last few months have been a time of soul searching and redefining of exactly what my goals and direction are for Dawnita Hall Photography. I admit, I went into this reflective time kicking and screaming. It went something like this, "I refuse to do a business plan that looks pretty on paper and then sits in a filing cabinet." Being a stubborn person by nature, my husband (aka Handsome) just looked at me with that look that says, "Let me know when you want help with that business plan." Oh how I loathe business plans! I know they are important and necessary for a business to be successful..blah, blah, blah...feel free to leave all sorts of comments below about how important they are. I know it and I still loathe them! Loathe!!!! I bet there are even a few of you out there who feel the same way. This blog is for you.

Handsome knew that even if I did not have a business plan, I at least needed to entertain the things one finds in a business plan. Being a wise and loving husband, he handed me a book called The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. Being the obstinate and loving wife that I am, I placed it on an important shelf at my desk after having read part of the first chapter and left it there. Whenever Handsome would ask about it, I would say I had gotten to a part where I needed to think and figure some things out before going any further. Two months later, I think he was tired of hearing me respond with this every time he asked. He was starting to give me that "you thickheaded, stubborn woman" look men will occasionally give thickheaded, stubborn women like me.

Finally, I felt it was time to relieve Handsome of his husbandly obligation to harass me into reading the book. Really, I was tired of being fussed at, but we will pretend it was for nobler purposes that I decided to pick back up the book. At first, I was looking for a really good reason to stop reading the book. After all, I am a photographer who is working to make my photography business profitable. I am not creating software to sale. I am not building Powerpoint slides and trying to convince investors that my business will be profitable in five years. I am not even looking to hire employees. So how could The Art of the Start be beneficial to me. I was surprised.

As I began to read the book in earnest, I realized this was not one of those "three easy steps to writing your business plan" type books that populate bookstore shelves. I found the book to be interesting and engaging. It was full of short exercises that allowed me to put into use the things I had just read. I particularly found chapter 1 to be the most exciting since I got to think through my business concept in fun and original ways like creating a mantra instead of a mission statement. Definitely a less stuffy approach for an artist that does not want a boring business plan. Chapter 11 was the most inspirational and everything in between left me writing copious notes on ideas, thoughts, and new perceptions of my vision for Dawnita Hall Photography.

I do realize that the book has a whole chapter on writing a business plan and the importance of using it to get and keep your team on the same page. Even in this, it suggests what many would call a backdoor approach of using your slide presentation to create the business plan instead of the traditional business plan that becomes a slide presentation. It also leaves room for those of us who are flying solo, are not looking for investors, and loathe business plans when it says,

"Most experts wouldn't agree, but a business plan is of limited usefulness for a startup because entrepreneurs base so much of their plans on assumptions, "visions," and unknowns...Organizations are successful because of good implementation, not good business plans." (pp. 66-67)

Thanks to Kawasaki's book, I feel like even someone as stubborn as me can be organized enough to implement a successful business without having to write a business plan that looks pretty on paper and then sits in a filing cabinet. Next time you are in a bookstore or cruising Amazon.com, instead of heading to the photography section to look at the newest coffeetable books by famous photographers, I would highly recommend stopping by the business section to pick up Guy Kawasaki's book, The Art of the Start.