How to Plan a Business (not write a Business Plan)

The business plan framework I wish I had 10 years ago

I’ve tried to write many business plans in my life, and it’s not until recently that I’ve discovered a framework that works for me.

You see, I’ve been thinking about business ideas probably since I was in high school, all through university, later when I tried to build my first business, and then when I built my first startup.

There was one concept that I couldn’t wrap my head around, and it made my business plans always show small margins (not for the SaaS startup—but follow me here).

What I was always thinking was: how can I get something that is worth $10 and sell it for $20?

For many businesses, I just couldn’t get my mind to understand how that worked.

For example, if I rent this office space, how can I rent it back out and make some profit?

It seemed impossible.

When I was building software, the question shifted to: how many customers will I get? And what’s the growth of new customers each month?

I would create huge Excel sheets and program some complex logic of sales made by each new salesman and, of course, according to it, the company would become a unicorn in no time.

Shit, was I completely wrong (as I now see it).

I realized planning a business—or writing a business plan—should be done like anything else in business: starting from the customer first and then moving to the rest.

The idea is to think about how you’re going to serve and solve the problem for this customer profile—and how you’re going to do it in a way that’s unique, special, and just great.

If you’re solving the problem in such a manner, the last thing the customer will think about is the price, so you’ll be able to charge well over what it cost you build the solution.

Also, when thinking about how much the company will grow, you should be thinking about how you’re going to get the solution to every person with the problem in the world, step by step, and how much that will cost you, etc.

PS: Does this make sense for you?

Also, you’ll still need a business plan template. Access below👇

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