I wrote a beautiful business plan, one of which I was quite proud.

It was aimed at helping me to transition from consulting to large companies to coaching smaller enterprises, and in the process I would attain these benefits:

(1) I would expand my market from a few thousand large companies to hundreds of thousands of smaller ones.

(2) I would be able to concentrate on serving local enterprises, curtailing time and energy sapping road trips.

(3) I would grow my testimonial base.

(4) I could offer more attractive pricing.

(5) I would spread my client risk across multiple firms, rather than concentrating it on one or two at a time.

A few weeks into this plan, I was exhilarated, but then, quite suddenly, the downside risks became apparent.

Smaller firms were shakier and flakier, financially. You couldn't count on them as much as their bigger brothers, to pay on time.

Their demands were greater, though they were paying less.

So, relying on them, nearly exclusively, as had been in my plan, just wouldn't work as smoothly as anticipated.

Quietly, I chastised myself for being naïve, for not taking into account these issues. And, for just a short time, I questioned the viability of planning.

But this was a foolish reaction.

My plan wasn't bad at all; in fact, it was dead on with most of its assumptions. I simply had to alter it, slightly, showing flexibility while acknowledging that the territory was slightly different than the map had characterized.

Be willing to adjust fast, if your plan doesn't quite fit the reality, and when necessary, scrap it entirely, and write a new one.

Remember, planning is worthwhile even if it isn't perfect, and it almost always beats the alternative!