Starting any business or any improvement activity with a BUSINESS PLAN is obvious. Obvious due to the huge importance of the BUSINESS PLAN as a guidance, as a activity pointer, as a cashflow informer etc….
However, when coming to the BUSINESS PLAN ITSELF, many make the mistake of relying on assumptions that are based on INTUITION. Intuition versus Reality can be a super dangerous base for building your business plan.
Intuition is very strongly embedded in our emotions and behaviour. It is so strong that we even relate to INTUITION as “my gut tells me…..etc”, or , “I listen to my heart”, or, my “stomach is telling me …x,y,z”
Being aware to the reality about intuition is critical. In fact, there isn”t intuition coming from the “heart, stomach or guts”. it is actually coming from your sub-conscience mind that can be PRETTY MUCH CONDITIONED to your culture.
Therefore, when going to the BUSINESS PLAN, it is times better to relay on statistics, analysing the past performance, asking IMPORTANT questions that can explain the current performance.
Hence, the SUPER IMPORTANCE of gathering data and constantly analysing it in order to find out the REASON that explains behaviour. When understanding those analysed FACTS, you can start building a reliable BUSINESS PLAN that is AS FAR AS POSSIBLE from INTUITION!!!
INTUITION or what you refer as intuition (various emotions) can be OKAY when taking quick decisions when you sense danger, or what you feel about people etc...But, the truth is that those feeling of danger and people is coming from PAST experiences (that are stored in your mind)and has very little to do with your "gut".
In the next POST, ill share some examples of ESSENTIAL DATA that can be implemented in future BUSINESS PLANS.
In the meantime, when it comes to business: DON'T TRUST INTUITION and try to collect factual data instead
