So, what is the plan ‘right now’?

The one question I ask every entrepreneur.

I won’t deny the fact that the bewildered look I get in response sometimes could be one of the reasons why I ask this question every time. (Image)

Entrepreneurs are dreamers. That is one of the strongest traits they have. They are always looking at changing the status quo, undeterred in the face of all negative odds, sometimes even working towards the improbable (if not impossible).

But it takes us some time to achieve the clarity we need to run a business well. Some learn from the experiences of others, others by stumbling over a few times themselves. And one of the mistakes I see many entrepreneurs make is that they tend to have the plan for just the long game. That, that is something that can hurt. And that is the reason why this question of mine becomes important.

WE ALL START WITH A GRAND VISION

You ask any entrepreneur, and they will tell you what the big plan is. What they want their business to eventually become, and how they intend to get it there. What are the different things they will be doing, and what they think would be the impact of those various activities.

The much talked about hockey stick growth chart

What you will notice with entrepreneurs is that they have point A (which is where they are), and point B (which is where they want to get to), and all their plans are devised at getting the business from A to B. The problem? Most of the times point A would be in #1 of the chart above, and point B would be either in #3 or #4. And that is a huge mistake.

WHY A & B SHOULD NEVER BE THAT FAR APART FROM EACH OTHER?

When your current state and your target points are that far apart, you often lose sight of the fact that a lot of what you will do will not yield the desired results and you need to have the clarity to ditch those measures at the earliest in favor of things that are working for you. The further apart A and B are for you, higher are the chances that you will just keep slogging your ass off on different avenues just trying to get the business to point B. Soon, evaluating the merits of every micro-action starts taking a back seat and you start treating every positive move (no matter how…