A growth strategy or business plan: is it necessary?
When you are starting a business you are often told about the need to have a business plan. Once you are up and running you will probably be told that you need a growth strategy. The question is do you really need these things? You will probably find that the answers are not as simple as a lot of people make it out to be.
If you are going to start a business you are going to have to have a business plan. That being said it does not necessarily have to be a formal plan. There are a lot of people who will try to tell you that a business plan is a critical document and that you can't start a business without one. This is just not true, you don't actually have to write the plan down at all. That being said you do have to have some sort of plan. You need to know what you are going to sell, to who and how you are going to do it. Even if it is all just in your head it is still a business plan.
Whether or not you need a growth strategy is going to depend on what your business goals are. If you are simply looking to start a business that will provide you with an income and allow you to make a living then it may be that you have no interest in growing. If that is the case you obviously don't need a growth plan. Despite what some people may try to tell you it is perfectly possible to run a business that never grows. If you are looking to grow you will have to have a strategy for doing so. Again this can be something that you write down formally or it can just be an idea in your head.
While you don't need a business plan or a growth strategy to start a business at some point you will likely have to create one. This will come when you need to get money to fund your business. If you are looking to borrow from the bank and especially if you are looking for outside investors you will need to have these written out formally. In large part their decision on whether or not to give you money will depend on what your business plan and growth strategy say.
Even if you are not looking at bringing in investors you may still find that a business plan is a good idea. Writing one will force you to think about your business and how you are going to run it. Thinking about this may allow you to see opportunities that you hadn't thought of which may well make your business more successful. In general the time spent on creating a business plan is usually time well spent.